2021 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint: Trainer Ward continues to rule
DEL MAR, Calif. - Trainer Wesley Ward continued his dominance of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Friday, sending out Twilight Gleaming, Kaufymaker and the favored Averly Jane to finish first, third, and fifth respectively in the youngest race on the Breeders’ Cup agenda. And he is looking forward to bringing all three back for even bigger and better things in 2022.
Twilight Gleaming’s half-length, wire-to-wire victory over Go Bears Go gave Ward his third straight victory in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. His previous winner of the event, Golden Pal, came back Saturday to also win the Turf Sprint, which is a race Ward will obviously have as a goal for all three of his young fillies who competed here Friday.
“Twilight Gleaming just bounced out of there and had that freshness to her; giving her the time off we did after her previous start in France was a big advantage,” Ward said. “I started getting a little nervous when they were coming to her at the end, but she just kicked right on and I was really proud of her performance.”
Kaufymaker rallied belatedly down the center of the course to finish third, just a length behind Twilight Gleaming. She and Averly Jane, who failed to show her best speed, prompting the pace before finishing just another head and nose behind Kaufymaker, had started less than a month earlier in the Indian Summer Stakes at Keeneland. Twilight Gleaming, on the other hand, had been idle since winning the Prix de la Vallee d’Auge at Deauville on Aug. 7. Twilight Gleaming got an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I think coming back in just four weeks may have affected both of them, Averly Jane more so because of the effort she put in winning her last start,” Ward said. “I also think she couldn’t get a hold of the track in the first few strides, she just didn’t have the quickness she showed in her previous races, although I thought she hung in pretty good. I just think coming back in 28 days might have zapped her a little bit.”
Ward said all three of his fillies will get plenty of time off to prepare for their 3-year-old campaigns.
“They all came out of the race great, scoped clean, and are already back home in Kentucky,” Ward said. “They’ll all get freshened, either at Keeneland or on the farms of their owners, and start back right after Christmas. We’ll probably point them to the early stakes at Keeneland, like we always do, and then map out plans for the rest of the year from there.”