Judy the Beauty targets Honorable Miss at Saratoga

ELMONT, N.Y. – At least one champion is planning to run in Saratoga Springs this summer.

Judy the Beauty, last year’s champion filly and mare sprinter, is expected to make her next start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap at Saratoga on July 29, trainer Wesley Ward said. The Honorable Miss is the local prep for the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 29.

Judy the Beauty has raced only once this year, suffering a neck loss to Dame Dorothy in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day. Judy the Beauty is based at Keeneland, where she is expected to return to the work tab this weekend.

Ward chose the Honorable Miss over the Grade 2 Princess Rooney at Gulfstream Park because he liked the timing between the Honorable Miss and the Ballerina, and it gives him more time to get the mare ready for the second half of the year.

“I’ve been very patient throughout her career, and I think this works better for where I’m trying to get to, which is the Breeders’ Cup,” Ward said. “Let me do what’s in the best interests of her.”

Ward said he jogged Judy the Beauty for several weeks following the Humana Distaff and only started galloping her around June 1.

Ward was headed to England, where he sent 10 horses to run in the prestigious Royal Ascot meet next Tuesday-Saturday.

One horse he planned to send to England but didn’t was Storied Tale, a 6 1/4-length debut winner April 23 at Aqueduct. Ward said Storied Tale came out of her most recent workout with some minor issues and was sent to owner Antony Beck’s Gainesway Farm for a break.

Ward said he nominated Astoria Stakes winner Moment Is Right to the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs, where she could take on males in that Grade 3 stakes at six furlongs June 27. The Debutante, for juvenile fillies, is run the same day, but that race is not graded.