Weaver has another top juvenile turf sprinter in Wood Island

George Weaver doesn’t set out to lure young turf sprinters into his stable. They wind up there.

Weaver the last several years has trained at least one stakes-level turf-sprinting 2-year-old, and in fact sent out the filly Cy Fair to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall at Del Mar.

His latest fast juvenile grass horse, Wood Island, starts Sunday in the Indian Summer at Keeneland and can run his way into the Juvenile Turf Sprint with a strong showing.

Weaver entered Wood Island to debut on turf July 31 at Saratoga and let the colt run when the race was rained onto the main track. Wood Island broke sharply and led all the way.

“He’s quick out of the gate, and that’s why I left him in on dirt,” Weaver said. “He’s been quickest out of the gate in the mornings, and in the afternoon, too.”

Wood Island broke like a rocket racing on grass Aug. 27 in the Skidmore at Saratoga. He had a couple of lengths on seven rivals 10 strides into the race, but came back kindly to jockey Flavien Prat and produced a turn of foot in upper stretch that carried him to an easy win. Wood Island, who raced in neither blinkers nor a shadow roll, gave a series of little homestretch leaps, jumping tracks on the turf course, but that didn’t slow him down.

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The Grade 3, $350,000 Indian Summer, contested over 5 1/2 furlongs, drew nine entrants and is packed with speed. Weaver isn’t concerned. Wood Island could be fine with a stalk-and-pounce trip. He also could make the lead again.

“Last time, it looked like there was speed on paper, too,” he said.

Wesley Ward has trained even more crack juvenile sprinters than Weaver and has two for the Indian Summer, the fillies Fanshell Beach and Ruiva. Fanshell Beach is pretty good; Ruiva is better.

Ward insists Ruiva in the end will find her best form on dirt, not turf. She was slightly underdone, he said, and paid the price for setting a strong pace, when Holmby tagged her on the wire Aug. 9 at Del Mar in the Sorrento Stakes, a dirt sprint. Ruiva’s only grass race came in the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot – and was excellent. She finished third of 27 and finished a nose behind Senorita Bonita, who came back to win the Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville.

Ward wants to run Ruiva in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and said he’d prefer training the filly up to the race. But unless she wins the Indian Summer, Ruiva might not have the earnings or status to make an expected overflow Juvenile Turf Sprint field, and so she runs Sunday.

Adonius ships from England, but both Ward-trained fillies ran stronger overseas races than Adonius. And even this European shipper brings early speed to the Indian Summer.

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