Friday Talking Points: Matt Brocklebank on Future Stars Friday at Breeders' Cup

1. Ward of warning…

Wesley Ward is the first name British punters look to seek out on the racecard when it comes to two-year-old races at Royal Ascot these days.

The brash former jockey has saddled 10 winners in total at the UK’s biggest summer meeting and seven of them came in juvenile events, the most recent being Shang Shang Shang who struck in this year’s Norfolk Stakes.

So it may come as a slight surprise that Ward’s runners in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint have predominantly been overlooked in the Churchill Downs markets, with the Brits bossing the betting at the time of writing.

Unbeaten Shang Shang Shang spearheads a team of four from the Ward barn and he’s clearly of interest despite not being seen in public since nosing out Pocket Dynamo in the Norfolk.

Stillwater Cove and Chelsea Cloisters are massive prices but both have winning form at this kind of distance and then there’s Moonlight Romance, who is around the 20/1 mark.

She was never a factor behind Soldier’s Call in the Windsor Castle Stakes in June but, uncharacteristically for a Ward runner, missed a beat at the start and was always on the back foot, so can probably be excused.

She set the record straight after a layoff by winning well on an easy surface at Kentucky Downs at the start of September and Jose Ortiz – in the saddle for the first time there – keeps the ride.

Ward generally likes to give off all the right noises, but perhaps on this occasion his relatively reserved approach should be taken as a positive.

2. Got news for you…

If you’re not a massive fan of Chad Brown’s hot-pot Newspaperofrecord in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf, it's good news - you’re getting a very attractive price about your alternative.

The Lope De Vega filly looks like being one of the shortest jollies on the Future Stars Friday card and it’s not hard to see why following a demolition job at Belmont in the Miss Grillo, a race Brown has used in the past for his previous winners in this spot.

But after such a destructive prep, there’s not a mass amount of room for improvement in her figure and there’s always a chance that wildly impressive effort could precede a relatively flat showing - see countless examples before her, including last year's BC Juvenile flop, Bolt D'Oro.

If the forecast is correct then East looks like representing Kevin Ryan with distinction, but La Pelosa isn’t to be underestimated either.

Charlie Appleby’s record at this meeting is pretty eye-catching. He didn’t have a runner between winning the Juvenile Turf with Outstrip at the end of his very first season with a licence until last year, where he sent out Filly & Mare winner Wuheida and the unlucky Masar, subsequent winner of the Investec Derby.

So it’s fair to say the Breeders’ Cup isn’t really an afterthought for Appleby and that’s reflected in the fact Wild Illusion and Line Of Duty have been well found in the betting for their respective targets.

It could be asking too much to suggest he can enjoy a treble this weekend, but La Pelosa comes fresh after her ‘win and you’re in’ score at Woodbine in September and her home form prior to that consisted of solid efforts in defeat in smart company.

She’s 1-1 at a mile then, and she’s got Group-placed form on ground with cut. Drawn in 5 between Newspaperofrecord and fellow market rival Just Wonderful, William Buick clearly has the right horses to track on La Pelosa and he'll look to use that late kick which served the filly so well in the Natalma.

3. Raise a glass to Osborne

Win, lose or draw, credit goes to connections of Toast Of New York, who makes the second appearance of his life on a Breeders’ Cup night.

Granted, the Marathon Stakes Presented By TAA is no longer on the official Breeders’ Cup schedule, but this became his sole option after Jamie Osborne’s star was only nominated as a reserve for plan A - Saturday night’s Classic.

It seems a world away when Toast was beaten a nose by Bayern in the 2014 Classic and it’s quite remarkable he’s back in the States on this card having appeared just three times in public since that memorable Santa Anita heartbreak.

Osborne appeared almost embarrassed by the horse’s performance, and pre-race antics (subsequently gelded), when beaten 50 lengths or more by Gun Runner in the Pegasus Cup at Gulfstream Park this January ,so there was surely a sense of real satisfaction with his latest comeback effort when beaten into second by Mind Your Biscuits in the Lukas Classic at Churchill at the end of September.

The Marathon, over a thus-far untried and untested mile and three-quarters, could just unlock something in the talented and equally quirky Toast Of New York, and winning would be another fairy-tale twist in a bizarrely successful career on the track.

4. Champion challenge begins

If you’re not clicking over into jumps mode yet then you’re about to get shocked into action as Samcro returns in the WKD Hurdle on a good card at Down Royal.

In theory he should be at least kept honest by Sharjah and Bedrock, who boast respective official ratings of 155 and 149, but if the Unibet Champion Hurdle dream comes unstuck here then there will be something of an inquest.

It is great to see this rising star out so early in the season, in spite of the lack of rain, and if conditions remain as they are at the time of declaration then it will be Samcro’s first appearance on ground described as Good.

It’s also on the dry side at Wetherby, with Saturday’s Charlie Hall Chase likely to cut up a little on account of the dearth of precipitation, but today’s meeting has a competitive feel to it and a Listed handicap chase to boot.

Kylemore Lough is the class act and Guitar Pete bids to follow up last year’s victory, but the real eye-catcher is Copain De Classe, who was ultimately quite impressive at Kempton last month following a summer wind op.

He’ll need another positive showing here to justify his BetVictor Gold Cup entry and is just the type of Paul Nicholls horse that goes through the grades at an impressive rate this time of the year.

My Stable - Horse Tracking Made Simple

Click here to register log in to your My Stable account

It’s that time of the year when jump season takes centre stage. With thousands of horses, hundreds of jockeys and plenty of trainers performing across the UK & Ireland in multiple meetings every single day, it can be tough to keep track of all that catches your eye.

But not any longer. Our My Stable service is the simple and perfect way to stay on top (and ahead) of the game. You can easily follow the progress of your favourite horses, jockeys and trainers across six months of pure racing theatre by adding them to My Stable.

It’s your own personal space on your free Sporting Life account where you can create a yard full of talent that means something to you. That way, you can develop your racing knowledge and build a better picture of the races to come. Plus, you also get notifications when anyone in My Stable is due to perform so you never miss a jump – or an opportunity to profit.