Bessie's Boy dominates Tremont Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Turf or dirt, England or America, trainer Wesley Ward is king of the 2-year-olds so far in 2014.

On Tuesday, Ward won the Windsor Castle Stakes, a five-furlong turf race at Royal Ascot, with Hootenanny. On Friday, hours after finishing second in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot with Sunset Glow, the Ward-trained Bessie’s Boy won the $100,000 Tremont, a 5 1/2-furlong dirt stakes at Belmont Park, by six lengths.

Chocolate Wildcat finished second, a half-length in front of King Rontos. Shrewd Move finished last. Jamaalaree, another Ward trainee, scratched.

It was Ward’s ninth victory in a 2-year-old race in the United States this year. Bessie’s Boy, a son of Smoke Glacken owned by Ice Wine Stable, is now 2 for 2.

Bessie’s Boy, under John Velazquez, hopped in the air at the break and bumped with Chocolate Wildcat, the 4-5 favorite. But Bessie’s Boy tugged his way to the front and set fractions of 22.41 seconds for the quarter and 45.16 for the opening half-mile. Chocolate Wildcat, under Javier Castellano, made a run at Bessie’s Boy in upper stretch, but Bessie’s Boy turned him back with ease.

Bessie’s Boy covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.89 and returned $6 as the second choice.

Velazquez said Ward told him he would prefer sitting off another horse. Velazquez said the way the race developed, that was not possible.

“I broke, tried to take a hold of him, but we all got together going to the turn, and all of a sudden he took off,” said Velazquez, who won this race for the sixth time in his career. “I said I’m not going to fight him, he’s already there, so I sat against him and just let him do it; it was pretty easy, though.”