Ward shipping six 2-year-olds to Royal Ascot

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – With the weather near London looking dry enough and the turf at Ascot rated good-to-firm as of Wednesday, trainer Wesley Ward’s annual invasion of the Royal Ascot meet is on schedule.

Ward has six horses for the races at Royal Ascot, which run Tuesday through Saturday next week, and the sextet – four from Arlington and two from Keeneland – were to converge at Indianapolis on Wednesday night, with their overseas flight set to depart early Thursday.

“The course is good-to-firm,” Ward said. “Everything looks in order.”

Ward’s first crack at the Royal Ascot meet came in 2009, when he shocked the English crowd by winning two races. Ward has at least planned to return every year since, but once he was forced to scratch his horses after shipping when the course became too wet, and another year, with the forecast calling for heavy rain again, Ward scrapped travel plans shortly before departure.

“You got no shot if it’s raining over there,” Ward said. “They’ve got a huge advantage if it’s wet. They got a bunch of mudskippers over there.”

Ward has slightly altered and expanded his Royal Ascot lineup – all 2-year-olds – during the last two weeks. Hootenanny is likely to start in the Windsor Castle on Tuesday, while Spanish Pipedream remains an intended runner in the Queen Mary Stakes on Wednesday. The filly To Be Determined will tackle males in the Norfolk on Thursday, and Sunset Glow is aimed at the Albany Stakes on Friday. Ward has two horses, Crown the Kitten and the first-time starter Cordero, for the restricted Chesham Stakes on Saturday’s closing card.

Lindy, who was among the original group Ward mentioned as Ascot possibles, races instead in the Astoria at Belmont this weekend.

Jockey Victor Espinoza, who never has ridden in England, has a call on all the runners save one of the Chesham two. Spanish Pipedream, Hootenanny, and To Be Determined all will breeze Monday over the Rowley Mile course at Newmarket, Ward said. Ward himself will travel to England on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Ward confirmed that he has plans for another overseas expedition next month, with Undrafted being pointed to the Group 1 July Cup on July 12 at Newmarket. Undrafted, owned by Denver Broncos football player Wes Welker, won the Jaipur Invitational on the Belmont Stakes undercard last weekend.

Ward said he was looking for a 2-year-old to accompany Undrafted on the journey and start in a Newmarket stakes race. And a suitable juvenile should not be all that hard to find in the operation. Through Tuesday, Ward already had compiled a record of 39-8-10-7 with his 2-year-old starters during 2014. By comparison, Todd Pletcher has started one 2-year-old this year.