Ward, Clement well represented in baby races

ELMONT, N.Y. – The $147,456 pick six carryover into races 4-9 on the Thursday card at Belmont Park will draw plenty of attention as the day progresses, but the more interesting races come earlier.

Races 1 and 4 are maiden races for 2-year-olds. Race 3 is a first-level optional-claiming race for 3-year-olds that will pit starters from the barns of Kiaran McLaughlin, Chad Brown, and Bill Mott.

The first race, for fillies at five furlongs on the main track, is part of the New York Racing Association 2-year-old spring program and has a purse of $100,000. It is the second of four legs of the Astoria series, and is intended to produce starters for the $150,000 Astoria Stakes on June 7.

Race 4 is a five-furlong turf race for 2-year-old fillies with a purse of $75,000.

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Trainer Wesley Ward, known for his prowess with 2-year-olds, has a pair of juveniles in each race. Through Sunday, Ward is 11 for 19 with his 2-year-olds this year. He sent out What the Luck to win his debut at Aqueduct on April 19.

Ward has brought in Gary Stevens to ride Mae Never No in race 1 and Hot Honey in race 4.

While the Ward first-timers in race 1 could well be the horses to beat, the McLaughlin-trained No Limit Babe may hold an edge in race 4 based on her runner-up effort to Luv This Lifestyle, a 5 1/4-length debut winner at Keeneland for Ward.

Like Ward, trainer Christophe Clement has entrants in both races. Clement has consistently started out his 2-year-olds earlier and earlier in recent seasons, and does so again here.

While primarily known for his work with older horses, Clement has good statistics with 2-year-olds.

Over the last five years, he has won 59 2-year-old races from 306 starts, a win average of 19 percent. His average win percentage per season with juvenile runners has ranged between 19 and 22 percent, and he has a positive ROI of $2.24 the past five years with 2-year-olds.

Clement has Lonely Road, who is by Quality Road, in race 1, and Smack, by Super Saver, in race 4. They are each out of mares that raced primarily in longer turf races.

Both were bred and are owned by Robert Evans, for whom Clement campaigned $3.6 million-earner Tonalist.

Clement said the horses were sent to his Payson Park stable in early April after already being put into training.

“They have three works with me,” he said. “Two works from the gate, one work from the pole. I don’t see the point of waiting and overtraining them, so let’s just run them.”

Lonely Road and Smack come into their debut races with identical workout patterns and times.

“They work together,” Clement said. “It’s the reason the works match. The one running on dirt shows a little more speed in the morning than the other one, but they’re both very forward mentally.”

Pick six players may want to base their decision whether to include Smack on the opening leg of their tickets on how Lonely Road performs in race 1.