Ward fillies one-two in Kentucky Juvenile

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Wesley Ward long has had a reputation for being an extraordinary trainer of 2-year-olds. On Thursday, before a festive and wind-blown crowd at Churchill Downs, that notion was hammered home when a pair of fillies trained by Ward finished one-two in the Grade 3, $113,900 Kentucky Juvenile Stakes.

Competing in a mixed field of fillies and colts, Aegean overtook her front-running stablemate, Jealous Again, inside the sixteenth pole when going on to a 1 1/4-length triumph in the five-furlong race. Jealous Again, the 2-1 favorite, was another 1 1/2 lengths before late-running Mission Impazible, who finished third as the 2-1 second choice in a field of nine.

Rene Douglas was aboard Aegean, a daughter of Northern Afleet, for owner Steven Michael Bell. She returned $20.80 to win after finishing in 58.24 seconds over a track rated good.

"That's what we tried to do - run one-two - and we got it done," said a jubilant Ward. "They were both going great into the race."

Jealous Again made the pace after breaking from post 2, while Aegean tracked her closely while saving ground from the inside post. Douglas angled out his mount after straightening for home, and Aegean responded with her second win in as many starts. Both Ward fillies had posted runaway wins in their lone prior starts at Keeneland.

After Mission Impazible, the running order was Western Smoke, Gator Prowl, Kinsolving, Heavenville, Kitty in the Bag, and Seattle Court.