Ward sends speedy fillies in Melody of Colors, Texas Glitter

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’ll only be a couple of weeks now. Wesley Ward will be prowling the lush grounds at Keeneland, fielding queries from fans and fellow horsemen about this 2-year-old or that. Ward will grin and wise-crack with something like “won’t get beat” while reveling in his familiar role as the overlord of early-season juvenile racing.

In the meantime, Ward will need to put a bow on his winter, which has been split, as usual, between Kentucky and Florida. Through Wednesday, the 53-year-old trainer had won 19 races at Turfway Park and seven at Gulfstream Park since Dec. 2, statistics that belie all the behind-the-scenes work he’s been doing with the 2-year-olds he’ll soon unveil at Keeneland and elsewhere.

:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Gulfstream Park Clocker Report

Saturday at Gulfstream, Ward will send out two of his more precocious 3-year-old fillies in a pair of $75,000 turf sprints co-featured on a 12-race card with the Grade 3 Hurricane Bertie. Ward will saddle Wink for the Melody of Colors (race 7) a couple of hours before saddling Carimba as the only filly in a field of eight in the Texas Glitter (race 11). Both fillies are owned by the Stonestreet Stables of Barbara Banke and figure to go postward as solid favorites.

“We don’t want to run against ourselves,” Ward said. “It’s not really an issue for me, running a filly against colts. I’ve been doing it forever. I actually think the fillies are faster.”

Wink, with Javier Castellano riding, will be making her fourth start and her first since she was second as an odds-on favorite in a Group 3 race at Longchamp in France in early September. Winner of her first two starts, including the Colleen at Monmouth Park in August, the speedy Midshipman filly has had seven works since mid-January – three at the Stonestreet satellite facility near Ocala, Fla., and four at the Palm Meadows training center. She’ll be racing without blinkers for the first time.

“We got her in from Ocala and she’s done really well,” Ward said. “I actually had these two fillies go together for their last couple of breezes and they’re both ready to roll.”

Wink will face no more than six fillies, assuming conditions remain dry as expected Saturday. The Arindel homebred Freak most likely will scratch from an original field of eight as the lone main-track-only designate.

Carimba, an Indiana-bred by Kantharos, surely will be sent hard by Paco Lopez from post 1 in the Texas Glitter when she makes her first start since late September. She, too, was brought along at Stonestreet before being sent to Palm Meadows. Her first two races, both at Indiana Grand, resulted in daylight victories and 81 and 82 Beyer Speed Figures.

“She ran really well last year, but she just had some shin issues where I decided to keep her close,” Ward said. “Her numbers were very good. She’s fast and she’s a big, stout filly. She’s grown and really filled into herself. We’re looking for a big effort.”

Among the more capable colts and geldings opposing Carimba are Field Day, with Castellano riding for Brad Cox, and Nitro Time, already a three-time winner.