Guide to Wesley Ward's Royal Ascot team including Lady Aurelia

Arawak (USA)

Breeding: b c Uncle Mo (USA) - Spicy Teddy (USA) (Spanish Steps (USA))

Owner: Michael Tabor, Sue Magnier & Derrick Smith

Form: 1

Impressive seven-length winner of five-furlong maiden on dirt at Belmont Park, USA, on May 26. That contest was originally scheduled for turf but was switched to dirt.

Target: Coventry Stakes, Tuesday (Sky Bet: 13/2)

Ward says: “I think he’s going to have a big chance. He’s got a long stride and he’s going to be a miler. His work yesterday at Ascot was much better than his last piece at Keeneland.”

Fairyland (USA)

Breeding: ch f Scat Daddy (USA) - Dame Ursula (GB) (Elusive Quality (USA))

Owner: Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier 

Form: 1

Three-and-a-quarter length winner of her only start over four and a half furlongs on dirt at Keeneland, USA, on April 7. $375,000 yearling from the family of high-class Japanese performer Agnes Digital.

Target: Albany Stakes, Friday (Sky Bet: 7/2) or Queen Mary Stakes, Wednesday (Sky Bet: 8/1)

Ward says: “She’s a nice early filly who will hopefully run in the Albany, although she’s owned by the Coolmore guys and they will decide – they might want to go for the Queen Mary instead.”

Happy Like A Fool (USA)

Breeding: 2 ch f Distorted Humor (USA) - Lastofthsummerwine (USA) (Sky Mesa (USA))

Owner: Merriebelle Stable

Form: 1

Successful on her only start to date when taking four and a half-furlong on dirt at Keeneland, USA, on April 9, scoring by four lengths.

Target: Queen Mary Stakes, Wednesday (Sky Bet: 2/1)

Ward says: “I bred her myself and named after a song my kids play all the time by One Republic – I just thought it sounded like a nice name for a nice horse. She did a big piece of work under Jamie Spencer on Wednesday and she’s come out of it great so I’m excited by her.”

Elizabeth Darcy (IRE)

Breeding: b f Camacho (GB) - Regency Girl (IRE) (Pivotal)

Owner: Hat Creek Racing

Form: 1

Captured a five-furlong turf maiden by nearly eight lengths at Indiana Grand on May 24, her only start to date. Irish-bred daughter of Camacho, sold for €88,000 to Gatewood Bell of Hat Creek Racing at Goffs Ireland in September, 2016.

Target: Windsor Castle Stakes, Tuesday (Sky Bet: 13/2)

Nootka Sound (USA)

Breeding: b f Lonhro (AUS) - Miss Red Delicious (USA) (Empire Maker (USA))

Owner: Hat Creek Racing

Form: 1

Scored well on debut by five and a quarter lengths over four and a half furlongs on dirt at Keeneland on April 27.

Target: Windsor Castle Stakes, Tuesday (Sky Bet: 11/2)

Ward says: “We’re thinking that the plan is for both Elizabeth Darcy and Nootka Sound to run in the Windsor Castle, with Elizabeth Darcy coming from behind and the other horse going from the front – that’s how we rode them when they worked at Ascot and I think we’ll stick to that.”

McErin (USA)

Breeding: ch c Trappe Shot (USA) - Erin Rose (USA) (Purge (USA))

Owner: Waterford Stable

Form: 13

Won on debut by seven and a half lengths over four and a half furlongs on dirt at Keeneland on April 12. Close third, beaten a neck and a nose, on only other start in Kentucky Juvenile Stakes over five furlongs on dirt at Churchill on May 4.

Target: Norfolk Stakes, Thursday (Sky Bet: 7/2)

Ward says: “He’s one from the start that I knew would be a Norfolk Stakes contender. He has an all-dirt pedigree but when we breezed him he was much better on grass than dirt so he’s one I always liked. Ryan Moore rode him at Ascot on Wednesday but I’d had a sit on him the day before – I told Ryan I’d put a bit of weight on his back to take the heat out of him! He’s got a few ideas, he’s got an active mind, but I think he’s smart.”

Princess Peggy

Breeding: b f Scat Daddy (USA) - Peggy Jane (USA) (Kafwain (USA))

Owner: Stonestreet Stables LLC

Form: 1

Scored by five and a quarter lengths on debut to take a five-furlong dirt maiden at Belmont Park on May 25.

Target: Albany Stakes, Friday (Sky Bet: 5/1)

Ward says: “She’s stepped up her game in her work. She won her only start convincingly but I wasn’t totally sure about her and I asked Ryan to ride her and tell me honestly if he thought she was up to the standard. He said absolutely – he said he thought she’d done a very good bit of work, so that’s enough for me. Her owner Barbara Banke was successful with Lady Aurelia and now she’s got a taste for Royal Ascot, she was really keen to have a second runner at the meeting.”

Lady Aurelia (USA)

Breeding: b f Scat Daddy (USA) – D’Wildcat Speed (USA) (Forest Wildcat (USA))

Owner: Stonestreet Stables LLC, George Bolton, Peter Leidel

Form: 1113-1

Astonishing seven-length winner of the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2016. Stepped up to six furlongs to win the Prix Morny at Deauville, France, in August. Beaten favourite when third behind Brave Anna in the Cheveley Park Stakes over same distance at Newmarket in September – it was subsequently revealed that she bled. Easy winner of Listed Giant’s Causeway Stakes over an extended five furlongs on her comeback at Keeneland in April. 

Target: King’s Stand Stakes, Tuesday (Sky Bet: 11/4)

Ward says: “I have a guy who rides for me called Julio Garcia, who was a world-class jockey. He has magical hands and he just gets her to melt in his hands. She has learnt to settle and that was the most satisfying thing about her win at Keeneland. Even this week, I was expecting her to be a bit anxious when she came back to Ascot, but I think she’s like a horse for a course, you know? Ryan said he was amazed – like me, I think he thought she might be a bit off the bridle and fractious, but once they got to the six-furlong start, she just pricked her ears, kicked off and sailed away. I believe that over five-eights (five furlong) she is a world-class sprinter. We didn’t know how she would come back after that bleed at Newmarket and obviously you don’t know if they will train on from two to three either, but I thought she was impressive at Keeneland. The speed figure was impressive, she was visually impressive, it was a good performance. I imagine she’ll need a lifetime-best to win the King’s Stand, but I think she can do it.”

Con Te Partiro (USA)

Breeding: b f Scat Daddy (USA) - Temple Street (USA) (Street Cry (IRE))

Owner: Hat Creek Racing 

Form: 14142-4

Fourth on first outing of 2017 in Soaring Softly Stakes over seven furlongs on turf at Belmont Park on May 20. Successful last year in Bolton Landing Stakes over extended five furlongs on turf at Saratoga in September and four and a half-furlong maiden on dirt at Keeneland in April.

Target: Sandringham Stakes, Wednesday

Ward says: “She had a nice breeze under Jamie Spencer at Ascot and we’ll see how she gets on. I’m happy with her.” 

Bound For Nowhere (USA)

Breeding: b c The Factor  (USA) - Fancy Deed (USA) (Alydeed (CAN))

Owner: Wesley Ward

Form: -11

Unbeaten in two starts, both this year. Won a six-furlong dirt maiden by six lengths at Turfway Park in January. Made it two from two in a turf allowance race at Keeneland on April 20, when going four and a quarter lengths clear by the line.

Target: Commonwealth Cup, Friday (Sky Bet: 10/1)

Ward says: “He’s kind of taken me by surprise. He has been a regular work companion for Lady Aurelia but she was much better than him in every (piece of) work. However, since he’s had some racing experience, he’s come on and started to prove a very valid foe for her, so much so that in one piece of work we had to bring him from behind because we were worried that if he went off in front, she wouldn’t have been able to get to him. I think he’s taking on some mighty rivals in the Commonwealth Cup but he’s a horse I like.”

More from Wes Ward...

Ward on bleeding: “The medication rules outside of the US are always going to be a deterrent to some. There are a lot of horses that bleed in the States. Even when they worked at Ascot on Wedneday, I was sitting with the vet and scoping every horse afterwards to see if they had bled.

“From a trainer’s point of view, if you can give a young horse a shot of Lasix  you know they won’t bleed and they’ll produce their best performance.

“Personally I don’t think they need medication. However, at the same time there are a lot of good horses in the US who are hindered by bleeding and you just won’t see them (travel abroad) as a result.”

Ward on Frankie Dettori: “Frankie will ride all of my horses, apart from Arawak, for whom Johnny Velazquez will fly in. I love Frankie, I invited him to come out to Saratoga a couple of years ago and we had a couple of winners together. I have complete confidence in him.

“He’s a magnificent guy with a tremendous attitude and an unbelievable jockey. I don’t tie him to instructions. I just say a few words and off he goes – he knows the horses.”

Ward on Royal Ascot: “This is the focal point of my year – it means everything to me. It’s a very serious undertaking though. It costs between US$20,000-30,000 to travel each horse, and if you look at the prize money on offer, you need to be running well to cover that, although there are obviously significant benefits for fillies in terms of the value a stakes-race win can add to their page.

“I always had an interest in European racing as when I was a jockey I rode in Italy and having a runner at Royal Ascot was something I always wanted to try. It’s probably a good job that the first of them won though – if I’d come in 2009 and it had rained all week and we’d got well beaten, I might well not have bothered again.”

Ward on his ‘weighlifter’: “During the Fall of 1984, I was leading rider at Belmont Park and my agent said to me ‘If there’s anything I can do, just let me know’. There was a horse called John Henry, who was a legend (John Henry was named the US champion turf racehorse in four different years during the early-1980s) and I said ‘I’d love to be able to ride him’, so it was arranged that I could ride him out one morning. He was kind of a little guy but you could just feel the strength in him. That’s how it feels when I ride Lady Aurelia. She's a weightlifter. She’s just strong.”