Love Reigns rebounds with Bolton Landing victory

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Had things gone better for Love Reigns in the Group 1 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot two months ago, she might have been in France on Sunday for the Group 1 Prix Morny. But following a fourth-place finish in the Queen Mary, trainer Wesley Ward brought Love Reigns back to the U.S. and set his sights a little lower for the 2-year-old filly.

On Sunday, Love Reigns appreciated the class relief and benefitted from a smart ride by Irad Ortiz Jr. to win the $150,000 Bolton Landing Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths at Saratoga. Danse Macabre rallied down the center of the Saratoga turf course to get second by three-quarters of a length over Redifined.

No Kay Never, also trained by Ward, finished fourth and was followed by Sweet Harmony, Aztec Knights, Kerry, Sicilian Grandma and Motown Mischief. Grand Oak scratched.

Love Reigns, as the 3-5 favorite, was expected to win the Bolton Landing. Sitting off another horse early wasn’t necessarily part of the plan. But Sweet Harmony, under Javier Castellano, outsprinted Love Reigns, who sat second before overtaking that one in midstretch and bounding clear for the win.

:: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.

“I thought I was going to be on the lead, that was my plan, but when we break out of there, Javier was faster than me, he outbreak me so I went to plan B,” Ortiz said. “Wesley always works these kinds of horses behind horses to teach them. … She was going really relaxed, I said all right, fine, and when I call on her at the quarter pole she responded.”

Love Reigns, an Irish-bred daughter of US Navy Flag owned by Stonestreet Stables, covered the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.03 and returned $3.40 to win.

Ward said that Love Reigns got a little sick after her debut win at Keeneland on April 29. He felt that may have impacted her performance in the Queen Mary.

“Going over there you want everything perfect with no issues or hiccups,” Ward said. “If it weren’t for her not firing, we might have been over in France this morning for the Morny. They only had a five-horse field and she would have given a good account of herself.”

Ward said he would like to train Love Reigns into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 4 at Keeneland. It was a race he won last year with the filly Twilight Gleaming, who had finished second in the Queen Mary at Ascot and then won the Prix de la Vallee d’Auge at Deauville on Aug. 7 before training into the Breeders’ Cup.

“I’ll get with the Stonestreet team and see how they feel about it,” Ward said. “It worked well with Twilight Gleaming, let’s see if it can work well with this filly.”