Ward juveniles waiting turns

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Wesley Ward has had one day circled on his calendar for nearly the last six months, since the first morning he began the arduous ordeal of preparing the 50 or so yearlings in his care last fall for their 2-year-old campaigns. That day was Thursday, April 2, opening day of the Keeneland spring meet.

But instead of being at Keeneland on Thursday with the likely favorite in the season’s first 2-year-old race, Ward spent the day like most of his others this winter, putting his young horses through another day of training while he waits and waits for somewhere to run.

“Today is my day, opening day at Keeneland,” Ward said. “I still can’t believe we’re not there. It’s the first time since I started going there in 2007 I haven’t been in Lexington for opening day at Keeneland. I had them lined up, ready to go, too, from my 2-year-olds all the way to older horses like Four Wheel Drive, who I had also planned on running at Keeneland today.”

Four Wheel Drive, undefeated in three starts last year at 2, has not started since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.

Ward, who has been training horses for more than three decades, explained the triedand-true method he uses to prepare his babies for the races.

“We start breaking them in October and putting the miles into them on the Circle S Farm in Davie,” Ward said. “We can both gallop and swim them out there, with most of the galloping done on the grass. After a while, I have a pretty good feel which ones are going to be fast early, just from their physical components, even before I start breezing them, and those are the ones I begin to work first. The four or five of the 50 or so we start with are the ones I center in on for Keeneland. The rest kind of fall into place after the first wave, around the end of March.”

Ward says he has about 10 2-year-olds ready to run, with the best of that group already up in Kentucky and likely to stay there for the time being. The others, he said, are in a “holding pattern” here in South Florida, spread out among the farm, his primary barn at Palm Meadows, and with a half-dozen or so stabled at Gulfstream Park West.

“Right now, it looks like our only outlet is Gulfstream Park, where the first 2-year-old races are scheduled for the 16th and 17th,” Ward said. “And fortunately I doubt they’ll have trouble filling them, since I’m hearing a lot of the pinhookers in Ocala with horses slated to go to sales that have been canceled are ready to head for the races now instead.” – Mike Welsch

Round 2 for I’ll Fight Dempsey

I’ll Fight Dempsey came out punching when he scored a front-running 2 1/2-length victory in a six-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 29. Saturday, it’s round 2 for the speedy son of Into Mischief, who runs in a seven-furlong optional-claiming race that goes as race 11 on the 12-race program.

I’ll Fight Dempsey was sent off the 2-1 favorite in a 10-horse field in his only start, and despite breaking a step slowly from the rail under John Velazquez, I’ll Fight Dempsey got to the front soon after the start and was never seriously challenged, covering six furlongs in 1:10.64 and earning an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.

Todd Pletcher, who trains I’ll Fight Dempsey for Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable, said I’ll Fight Dempsey “lived up to and possibly exceeded expectations.”

“I was concerned when he drew the rail, but he had good tactical speed,” Pletcher said. “He’s a free-running horse. I was hoping he’d get away cleanly and once he did he performed really well. He’s come back and trained like a good horse and we’re hoping he continued to progress.”

Since the debut win, I’ll Fight Dempsey has fired three bullet half-mile workouts at the Palm Beach Downs training center.

“He’s always been very willing in the morning and he’s stayed that way after the race,” Pletcher said. “We haven’t allowed him to do as much as he wanted.”

With Velazquez not riding this weekend, Luis Saez rides from post 3.

Sonneman, a 3-year-old son of Curlin trained by Mark Hennig, runs Saturday for the first time since an off-the-pace victory going a mile at Belmont last Oct. 5.

Acre, a son of Blame, has not run since winning an off-the-turf maiden race at Saratoga last August. He gets Lasix for the first time. He is trained by Bill Mott.

I’ll Fight Dempsey will try to do Saturday what Money Moves did for Pletcher on March 27, which is validate a debut victory by beating winners.

Money Moves won his debut going six furlongs on Feb. 15, and successfully stretched out to a mile in winning a salty allowance race by 2 1/4 lengths. He covered a mile in 1:35.30 and earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

“That was a loaded allowance race,” Pletcher said. “For him to win the way he did from the one hole going a one-turn mile was an impressive performance, one that would be having you thinking about a stakes somewhere. Where and when I have no idea.”

Pletcher does anticipate stretching out Money Moves, a son of Candy Ride.

“I think two turns will be in his favor,” he said.