Trainer Wesley Ward, who is remarkably the trainer of no fewer than four morning-line favorites (Hootenanny, Sunset Glow, No Nay Never and Judy the Beauty), will have two live chances in Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in the form of Smith, Magnier and Tabor's No Nay Never (Scat Daddy) and Wes Welker's Undrafted (Purim).
The duo toured the hillside turf course Thursday morning to become acquainted with the unique configuration. No Nay Never, last-out winner of the GIII Woodford S. at Keeneland Oct. 4, broke off ahead of his stable companion and hopped slightly crossing over the dirt track, but he never lost his momentum and continued on willingly through the lane. Undrafted, a close fourth in the G1 Darley July Cup over the summer and most recently third to Dimension (GB) (Medicean {GB}) in the Kentucky Downs Turf Dash Sept. 24, had no issues negotiating the dirt and finished well.
“I think he's going to break super sharp this time and the pace will be his,” Ward said of No Nay Never. “I think the downhill might actually help him. When he makes that right turn, they make a tiny uphill run and that should relax him as he heads back down the hill. I think everything will be fine. If they do go too fast up front, I think the race will fall into Undrafted's hands–so I feel good about my chances with both horses.”
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