Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Four Wheel Drive pointing for Royal Ascot

ARCADIA, Calif. – Four Wheel Drive, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Friday at Santa Anita, will be pointed to the Group 1 Commonwealth at Royal Ascot in June, trainer Wesley Ward said early Saturday.

Four Wheel Drive already was back in his stall at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., after an overnight flight.

“He and the two fillies are all back home,” said Ward, referring to Kimari, who was fourth, and Cambria, who was ninth. “They left on an airplane at 1 a.m.”

Ward said all three horses emerged from the five-furlong Juvenile Turf Sprint in good shape. Four Wheel Drive, owned by the Breeze Easy LLC of Mike Hall and Sam Ross, dominated from the first few steps of the Juvenile Turf Sprint and finished a comfortable three-quarters of a length ahead of Chimney Rock. Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard the winner, who returned $5 as the only winning favorite of the five Friday Breeders’ Cup races.

Ward said that Four Wheel Drive might run in the Palisades Turf Sprint at Keeneland or the William Walker at Churchill next spring as a prep for the Commonwealth.

Four Wheel Drive earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure in the Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“He’s done a lot in a short time,” said Ward. “We talked about it last night, and we’re not going to shoot for the Kentucky Derby with him or anything like that. We’ll work backward from the Commonwealth, with maybe a race beforehand at Keeneland and/or Churchill Downs.”

Ward said all three will get a couple of months off, with Cambria soon to go to the Ocala, Fla., farm of his owner-breeder, Stonestreet Stables. Four Wheel Drive and Kimari will train at Keeneland through the winter. Kimari also is a good possibility for the Commonwealth, said Ward.

Meanwhile, Chimney Rock, a persistent second behind Four Wheel Drive at 12-1, is scheduled to leave here Wednesday and will eventually assimilate into the Gulfstream Park string of trainer Mike Maker, whose top horses will remain in Kentucky until the end of this month.

Another Miracle, third at 19-1, is scheduled to return Sunday to New York and could make his next start on dirt, said trainer Gary Contessa.

“We’re very pleased,” said Contessa. “I’ll have a string at Tampa Bay Downs this year, so we’ll take him down there. We might ship over to Gulfstream to run as well if the right opportunity arises. His dirt numbers are a hair faster than his turf numbers, so it’s quite possible we’ll start him back on the dirt.”