Ward finds himself a Royal Ascot horse

ELMONT, N.Y. – At a farm one day to look at horses for a prospective client, Wesley Ward fell in love with a filly owned by someone he had never trained for.

When put in touch with the owner, Michael Dubb, Ward inquired about possibly training the Artie Schiller 2-year-old filly, feeling she might have what it takes to run at Royal Ascot.

Dubb gave Ward the filly, and on Thursday, in her second start, Back At the Ranch rolled to a 2 1/4-length victory in a five-furlong dirt race at Belmont Park. Now, Ward wants to take her to Royal Ascot for the Group 3 Albany Stakes, a six-furlong turf race June 19.

Ward said he was impressed with the big, long stride on Back At the Ranch, and the fact that she was a daughter of Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Artie Schiller made her a strong candidate to go to Royal Ascot, in Ward’s opinion. Ward has been the one U.S. trainer to succeed at Royal Ascot, having won four races there since 2009.

Back At the Ranch finished second in her debut at Keeneland, rocketing to the lead after a slow start and dueling with her own stablemate Assoulin.

In Thursday’s race, it was Assoulin who rocketed to the lead, with Back At the Ranch several lengths back in second. Back At the Ranch took over outside the sixteenth pole and won by 2 1/4 lengths over Assoulin. Her final time of 58.84 seconds produced a 74 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She put it all together yesterday,” Ward said by phone from south Florida. “I’m looking forward to taking her over there.”

Ward said Back At the Ranch was vanned back to Keeneland on Friday and will work a couple of times over the turf course at the track before heading to England two or three days before the race.

Ward said the deeper grass of the Keeneland turf course is somewhat similar to that of Royal Ascot, so horses who handle that turf may do well abroad.

Last year, Ward finished second in the Albany with Sunset Glow.