Ward has good shot at stakes double

Trainer Wesley Ward has a stranglehold on the 2-year-old stakes at Monmouth Park this weekend. On Wednesday, he entered the fillies Karak, Foolish Humor, and Slap Happy against males in Saturday’s Tyro Stakes. On Thursday, he entered all three back against their own sex in the Colleen carded for Sunday.

For good measure, Ward entered the filly Dixie Mo for the main track only in the $75,000 races, which will be run at five furlongs over turf. While there is a chance of thunderstorms this weekend, odds are the stakes will remain on grass.

Ward said Friday from Saratoga that Karak and Slap Happy would run Saturday against the boys and Foolish Humor would start in the Colleen.

Karak has the outside post in a field of seven in the Tyro, but would break from the rail in the Colleen.

“That’s my whole reason for running Saturday,” he said.

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Foolish Humor and Karak were both debut winners going five furlongs over turf at the Belmont Park spring meet. Karak went wire to wire to beat males by three lengths May 25. Foolish Humor beat fillies by 2 3/4 lengths after pressing the pace three weeks earlier.

For their second starts, Ward took both fillies to Royal Ascot for the Windsor Castle Stakes against males. They showed speed over the soft course before tiring. Karak finished 15th in the 21-horse field, Foolish Humor was 20th.

“Unfortunately, it poured rain over there and they just couldn’t handle the soft ground,” Ward said. “It’s been my experience that the American horses have trouble with soft ground there.”

Foolish Humor, a daughter of Distorted Humor who sold for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale as a yearling, will have Monmouth’s leading rider, Nik Juarez, aboard in the Colleen when she starts from the outside post.

Slap Happy, a debut winner in a five-furlong maiden race on turf at Indiana Grand in May for Ward, drew post 3 in the Tyro and has Paco Lopez named to ride. Despite a late start at the meet, Lopez is second in the standings.

Foolish Humor, Slap Happy, Karak, and Dixie Mo have been training at Keeneland.

“They are all very nice horses,” Ward said.

Although the foursome have raced in blinkers up until now, Foolish Humor, Karak, and Dixie Mo were entered “blinkers off” for this weekend’s races.

“I kind of keep the blinkers on the first part of the year to get them to focus,” Ward said. “Now that they’ve learned their lessons, I like to open them up and get them to settle a little more. At this point, they really just don’t need them.”

Another horse of note in the Colleen is the Maryland-bred Miss J McKay, a 5 1/4-length debut winner at Laurel Park for trainer Cal Lynch. In the past few years, Lynch has developed the talented 2-year-olds Our Braintrust, El Areeb, and Congrats Gal.

◗ The Monmouth Sunday card also includes a second-level New Jersey-bred optional-claiming sprint and the 1 1/8-mile leg of the $16,000 turf starter handicap series.

The statebred optional claimer includes Visionary Ruler, longshot winner of the Friendly Lover Handicap for trainer Antonio Arriaga, and Chunnel, the beaten favorite. The race should produce starters for the New Jersey Breeders’ Handicap on Aug 25.

In the starter handicap, 7-year-old King of Spades will aim for his third series win for trainer Kelly Breen while carrying 126 pounds.