Ward still deciding on graded stakes debut for White Sands

White Sands, the easy winner of two starts in the Midwest, will have her first start in a graded stakes at Del Mar this weekend. The actual race will be determined.

As of Wednesday, trainer Wesley Ward was unsure whether White Sands would start in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes against 2-year-old fillies, or Sunday’s Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes against males. Both races are worth $150,000 and run at 6 1/2 furlongs.

“I might enter both and make a decision,” Ward said.

:: DRF's Del Mar Handicapping Packages: Get everything you need to play the races with confidence.

White Sands was scratched from the Grade 3 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga last Sunday in favor of a trip to California. White Sands remained at Ward’s base in Kentucky and was not shipped to New York, the trainer said.

By Into Mischief, White Sands is a half-sister to Jackie’s Warrior, the 2021 champion sprinter. The filly was born without a right eye, Ward said.

White Sands, who races for Susan Magnier and Linda Shanahan, is unbeaten in two starts, both at 5 1/2 furlongs. She won a maiden race against fillies by 9 1/2 lengths at Belterra Park on May 25, and the Prairie Gold Juvenile Stakes against males by 13 3/4 lengths at Prairie Meadows on July 6. In both races, White Sands set the pace.

“Even for a 2-year-old, she travels like it’s no problem, which is rare,” Ward said.

Ward, who is seeking his first stakes win at Del Mar since Twilight Gleaming prevailed in the 2022 Daisycutter Handicap, races sparingly in California. His Funtastic Again was second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita in May.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.