Wesley Ward

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-KEE, $60K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2fT, post time: 1:05 p.m. ET NAPA SPIRIT (IRE) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) sports a flashy worktab for trainer Wesley Ward, including a trio of bullets over the Palm Meadows turf, for this debut run. Agent Ben McElroy paid £420,000 on behalf of Stonestreet Stables for the bay at last year's GOFSEP Yearling sale. Joel Rosario has the call on the even-money morning-line favorite, who hails from the extended female family of G1 Golden Jubilee S. winner Malhub (Kingmambo). Ward and...

Ruthin (GB) (f, 2, Ribchester {Ire}--Selinka {GB}, by Selkirk), a 350,000gns TATOCT yearling purchase, kicked off her career with a 'TDN Rising Star' performance sprinting on the Keeneland lawn for Wesley Ward Thursday. The rail-drawn, 3-5 favorite shot out to the front and sped through an opening quarter in :21.91. She let it out a notch approaching the top of the stretch, and, despite racing greenly on her left lead for most of the stretch, was geared down late en route to a flashy, six-length victory over Artos (Ire) (Kodiac...

A week after taking a spin around the Keeneland turf course, Like the King (Palace Malice) returned to the Keeneland main track Saturday morning, drilling three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.80 (1/3) (see below) for the GI Kentucky Derby. With former jockey Julio Garcia at the controls, the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner worked in the company of newly minted Sovereign Award winner Artie's Princess (We Miss Artie) and broke off three lengths behind his stablemate before drawing on even terms at the sixteenth pole. "That was a good work...

7th-Keeneland, $78,525, Alw, 4-15, (C), 4yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.60, gd, 2 1/4 lengths. MAVEN (g, 4, American Pharoah--Richies Party Girl {MSW, $357,085}, by Any Given Saturday) became the first North American winner for his sire on debut over the Aqueduct main track just shy of two years ago and was the last of 22 lots to go through the ring for the boutique Goffs London Sale, but was retained by owner Richard Ravin on a bid of £725,000 (about $912,000) that would otherwise have topped the event. The chestnut rewarded...

1st-Keeneland, $59,286, Msw, 4-15, 2yo, f, 4 1/2f, :51.84, gd, 8 3/4 lengths. AVERLY JANE (f, 2, Midshipman--Sh Sh Shakin', by Richter Scale) gave her trainer a third juvenile winner in as many days at Keeneland, rolling home to score as much the best in the Thursday opener. Sent along to vie for the lead from between rivals, the half-sister to Chattel (Giant Oak), SW, $111,540, ultimately settled outside of pacesetting Royal County through an opening quarter in a quick :21.68. She wrested command from that one in upper stretch,...

Like the King (Palace Malice), who earned a berth in the field for the Kentucky Derby by virtue of his last-out victory in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks over the Turfway synthetic track Mar. 27, drilled six furlongs over a firm Keeneland turf course in 1:16 Saturday morning under the watchful eye of trainer Wesley Ward. With Drayden Van Dyke in the irons, Like the King started off his work well behind MSW & GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf third Outadore (Outwork) and GIII Futurity S. runner-up After Five (The...

Of all the different ways our community is slowly retrieving its bearings, few can be as heartening as the return of the Keeneland spring meet. Its loss, last year, was one of the first crashing waves of Covid's inundation across so many routine pleasures. And last weekend could scarcely have offered more reassuring navigational markers. The fans privileged to return to their boxes saw a Derby favorite warming up in the GII Blue Grass S. and, if uncertain in their wagering, could simply back the hometown barn of Wesley Ward,...

When Mario Pino began riding way back in 1977, he figured he'd stick around for a few years and then go off and do something else. Weight was an issue and he wasn't sure that he had the desire to keep grinding away. Forty-four years later, Pino, 59, resumed his career last week at Gulfstream and is determined to plug away until he gets his 7,000th win. He needs 39 more winners to reach that milestone, something only nine jockeys have ever achieved. "I'm just 39 away and that's why...

The temperatures were on the cool side Saturday in Central Kentucky, but jockey Joel Rosario was hot. As in en fuego. The Dominican sensation had ridden, in succession, Flagstaff (Speightstown) to victory in the GIII Commonwealth S.; Bound For Nowhere (The Factor)--who was drawn somewhere in the middle of Versailles Road--to win the GII Shakertown S.; and produced 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) at just the right time to snatch the GI Central Bank Ashland S. Rosario completed a spectacular stakes four-timer in the day's penultimate race, riding Ten Broeck...

Making her first start on a conventional dirt surface after crossing the line best in two previous tries over the Turfway Tapeta, Three Chimneys Farm LLC's Twenty Carat (Into Mischief) attended a strong pace while four deep, came calling for the lead in upper stretch and powered home to prove a convincing winner of Friday's co-featured GIII Beaumont S. on opening day of the Keeneland spring meeting. Drawn widest in a field of seven, the homebred showed good gate speed and led the Beaumont field out of the chute before...

A stout 36.5% increase of all sources handle, along with a rise in starters per race, topped Turfway Park's 38-day Winter/Spring meet that opened Jan 1. and concluded Saturday. Turfway Park's meet saw overall handle grow to $81.7 million, a $21.9-million increase from 2020. All sources handle per day was up 32.9%. The average field size topped 9.8 horses per race compared to 2020's 9.7 starters per race. "We can't thank our owners, trainers, jockeys and horseplayers enough for supporting our meet," Turfway Park's General Manager Chip Bach said. "Our...

M Racing Group LLC's Like the King (Palace Malice) parlayed a farther back than normal trip into a breakout victory in Saturday's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park, earning 100 GI Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the process. Off at 7-1, the Wesley Ward pupil broke cleanly from the rail but was unhurried by Drayden Van Dyke and settled into a midpack spot while hugging the fence around the first turn. Dropping farther back down the backside behind a strong pace, he was switched out for clear sailing heading...