Ward's Bacio chasing history as Nunthorpe favorite

A juvenile hasn’t won the Nunthorpe Stakes in almost two decades, and an American horse, at least in modern history, never has won the Nunthorpe. Both options are in play when 18 horses take to the York Racecourse turf Friday in the Group 1 Nunthorpe over a straight five furlongs.

Trainer Wesley Ward sends Kentucky-based Bacio, who so impressively won the Palace of Holyroodhouse over 26 rivals at Royal Ascot that British bookmakers on Wednesday had him the 3-1 Nunthorpe favorite.

Ward twice has finished second in the Nunthorpe, Lady Aurelia coming out on the wrong side of a tight photo in 2017, the 2-year-old filly Acapulco runner-up in 2015.

This year’s juvenile filly, Pershaada, hails from the England yard of trainer Richard Hannon, and exits an eye-catching score in the Molecomb Stakes last month at Goodwood. Pershaada switched running styles in the Molecomb, rating kindly and unleashing a strong burst after showing early speed in her previous starts. She gets 28 pounds from her older male rivals and 25 from 3-year-old Bacio.

Bacio came from relative obscurity to take on the favorite’s role in the Nunthorpe, which is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, offering the winner automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland. Bacio won two of three as a juvenile, finishing second in a listed stakes race, and came to Royal Ascot this summer after a first-level allowance victory at Churchill Downs.

He was one of the highest-weighted runners in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Handicap, run like the Nunthorpe over a straight five furlongs. Bacio showed excellent speed and scored by nearly four lengths under Juan Hernandez, who keeps the mount for the Nunthorpe.

The field includes last year’s Nunthorpe winner, 8-year-old Asfoora, who has run five times this year and not finished better than fourth, though she did finally show some spark last out in a Group 2 at Goodwood.

The one-two finishers from the Group 1 King Charles at Royal Ascot rate a stronger chance. Mission Central won the King Charles, defeating 25 rivals while running the race of his life, but he came back with a tepid seventh last month in the July Cup at Newmarket.

In the King Charles, Mission Central delivered a huge late run along the stands’ side rail to get up by a head over the French filly Rayevka, who makes her first start since Ascot in the Nunthorpe and was priced Wednesday as the 5-1 second choice.

At Ascot, Rayevka wove her way through traffic while coming down the center of the course, and by the time she saw Mission Central, the colt had passed her. Rayevka, after two modest showings in Dubai this winter, returned to trainer Francis Henri-Graffard’s training yard in France and turned in the two highest-rated performances of her career. A victory by Rayevka also would be a Nunthorpe rarity: The last France-based winner was Last Tycoon in 1986.