Master Merion good fit for Old Friends

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Wesley Ward already has made one calculated move that paid off handsomely at the new Kentucky Downs meet. Now, he’s looking for a second by sending out Master Merion as one of the main contenders Thursday in the fourth $250,000 Old Friends Stakes.

Ward had two entries Saturday in the Tourist Mile, the opening-day feature at this turf-only track. He scratched Master Merion before winning the $681,400 race with Bound for Nowhere, whom he had considered scratching in favor of the upcoming Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint.

“Fortunately, it was the right decision,” said Ward, who is second only to Mike Maker among trainers in track history in both wins (26) and stable earnings ($2,274,359).

Master Merion, like Bound for Nowhere, returned from his most recent start at the Royal Ascot meet in England in June with a very sharp workout pattern at Keeneland. Ward said the race conditions of the Old Friends – a one mile and 70-yard race restricted to horses who have not won a stakes in 2018 – should be quite agreeable to Master Merion, a 4-year-old gelding who won the Franklin-Simpson Stakes here last September.

Julio Garcia, who rode Bound for Nowhere on Saturday and works closely with Ward during training hours at Keeneland, will be aboard Master Merion when breaking from post 12 in an oversubscribed field of older horses.

Master Merion has “done really well in his training since we got back from England, which is why we entered him in such a big race like the Tourist Mile in the first place,” Ward said. “He’s shown he likes the course, and he’s got a post that should give Julio plenty of options.”

Ward also has Undrafted entered in the Old Friends but said Monday the 8-year-old gelding most likely will be scratched in favor of the $500,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint on Saturday. That development would allow one of the three also-eligibles to draw in from an overall cast of 15.

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Among the chief threats to Master Merion are Doctor Mounty, in off a runner-up finish in the Oceanport at Monmouth Park for Shug McGaughey; Cowboy Culture, a multiple stakes winner who surely needed his last start for Brad Cox; Next Shares, a California invader entered off a string of graded races; Conquest Panthera, a graded winner trained by Mark Casse; and Parlor, a talented 4-year-old trained by Eddie Kenneally.

The Old Friends, named for the Thoroughbred retirement farm founded by Michael Blowen, goes as the ninth of 10 races on a card that starts at 1:25 p.m. Central. The purse includes $150,000 in bonuses for horses registered to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund; all starters except Dimension (Great Britain) are Kentucky-bred.

The Thursday card also includes four maiden specials (races 3, 5, 7, 10) with purses peaking at $130,000, and three allowances (races 4, 6, 8) with purses as high as $145,000.

After Thursday, three days remain at the Kentucky Downs meet – Saturday, Sunday, and next Thursday (Sept. 13). Churchill Downs starts its 11-day September meet Sept. 14.