Ward armed for Astoria Stakes too

ELMONT, N.Y. – Before he heads to England with an army of 2-year-olds to unleash at Royal Ascot, trainer Wesley Ward hopes to continue his streak of early-season success in the juvenile division in North America.

On Saturday, Ward will send out Lindy in the $100,000 Astoria Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Belmont Park. The Astoria, which has not been run since 2008, drew a field of six, including three maidens. Ward had hoped to run Bessie’s Boy in Sunday’s $100,000 Tremont at Belmont, but that race did not attract enough entries to be carded.

Ward has already won eight races for 2-year-olds this year. Lindy, a daughter of War Front, won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden race at Presque Isle Downs on May 13, blasting out of the gate from her rail post and romping to a 4 1/2-length score.

“She caught a flier at Presque Isle,” Ward said. “She broke, and she was gone. She had everything her own way.”

Three of the seven horses Lindy beat that day came back to win maiden special weight races, including the Ward-trained Sunset Glow, who won a maiden race during Belmont week.

Lindy has been well traveled in the last two months, having worked at Keeneland, Arlington, and, on Tuesday, Churchill Downs, where she went a half-mile in 50.40 seconds.

“I really liked that work, so we decided to send her,” Ward said.

Mario Pino, aboard for the maiden win, is back aboard Saturday.

Liatris, a daughter of Warrior’s Reward, won her debut May 30 at Pimlico for trainer and part-owner Jann Anderson. It was Anderson’s first starter since 2010 and her first winner since 2006. Anderson said she got hurt in 2009, when a horse fell on her.

“She came back from her maiden race like it didn’t take anything out of her,” Anderson said of Liatris. “There are limited opportunities for 2-year-olds after you break your maiden.”

Thus far this year in New York, there have been limited opportunities for 2-year-old maidens to run, which is one reason trainer Todd Pletcher is running the first-time starter Fashion Alert in the Astoria. A daughter of Old Fashioned, Fashion Alert shows a bullet work from the gate June 1 for this.

“It’s not something we do very often, but considering we don’t have many options, she’s trained well enough to give it a try,” Pletcher said. “At this stage of development, any start is helpful. You’d have to give the edge to any horse that has had a run, but she drew a favorable post, and she’s trained well and worked professional from the gate ... felt it was worth taking a shot.”

John Velazquez rides Fashion Alert from post 6.

Awesomendensome, a nose winner of a maiden race at Gulfstream on May 2, completes the field.