Tied atop the standings, Ward sends out streaking Floodlites
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Maybe you think of the trainer Wesley Ward as “Mr. Keeneland.” Ward owns a farm that sits just across Rice Road from the Keeneland property. His horses walk across the street and over to the Keeneland track to train. Over the last 15 spring meets, Keeneland has run 119 dirt races for 2-year-olds, and Ward has won 65 of them.
Maybe you don’t know this: After Keeneland wraps up in late April, Ward has proven a force during the Churchill Downs spring meet. Wasn’t always thus, but in 2024 Ward went 10 for 32 at the Churchill spring meet. Last year he was 8 for 30, and so far this meet, with two horses entered on Friday’s nine-race program, including Floodlites in the featured eighth, Ward has gone 9 for 20.
“Keeneland is my place, and I usually give the horses a little bit of a breather [after the April meet] because I try to run every single horse I have there. I know the condition book for decades. I know in the fall what there’s going to be in the spring, so I turn a lot of the horses out and plan for that,” Ward said.
What changed? Ward has pulled back on his habit of running multiple 2-year-olds in the same Keeneland maiden races. He’s had older horses ready to run at Keeneland whose spots there were filled by other Ward-trained entrants. Those race-ready runners wind up live at Churchill.
“Lots of horses more than ready to run. It’s not like we’re winning with 20-1 shots,” Ward said.
True. Seven of Ward’s winners this Churchill meet went off at 3-2 or lower. Another was 2-1. Ward’s longest-price winner was 4-1.
Churchill’s morning line lists Floodlites the 5-2 second choice in the Friday feature, a six-furlong dirt race open to third-level allowance horses or $100,000 claimers.
Dirt – that’s turned Floodlites around. The gelding came into Keeneland’s meet last fall with a 1 for 7 record. He comes into this contest on a three-race winning streak. Floodlites won an $80,000 nonwinners-of-two claimer in October and followed that with decisive first- and second-level allowance scores.
“I ran him first time out on dirt and he didn’t run any good. Jose [Ortiz] came back saying this and that, I put him on grass and he won, and then he just never really developed. He worked so well on dirt we tried it again, and off he went,” Ward said.
Ward likes to give his Keeneland winners ample time to recover. Floodlites ran April 18.
“He’s doing good, but with the time between races, he’s right on the cusp,” Ward said.
It’s been a far longer time since Verifire, the 6-5 morning-line favorite, last saw action. The Brad Cox-trained Verifire won his first three starts, then was all but eased at 3-1 last August in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens at Saratoga. Taking a short price on a long-layoff comebacker who debuted at Colonial Downs feels imprudent.
Tough Catch rates a minor win chance, while Thoughtthatcounts, who has no sprint speed, must hope a hot pace percolates.
Floodlites comes into Friday’s race for a hot barn. Wesley Ward, “Mr. Keeneland,” is tied for leading trainer at Churchill.
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