Barn Tour: Ward has a string of Breeders' Cup hopefuls

Wesley Ward, who has six Breeders’ Cup victories to his credit, expects to be at Del Mar for this year’s event with considerably more entrants than he had last year, when his only runner was Nakatomi, who finished sixth in the Sprint.

“A lot of them will have to get voted in, a lot of them won't get voted in, so we'll see how it goes when we pre-enter,” Ward said.

One definite is Nakatomi, who secured a berth in the Sprint with his win Friday in the Grade 2 Phoenix at Keeneland.

That was one of two graded-stakes wins last week for Ward, who also scored in the Nearctic (G2) with No Nay Hudson. For the year, Ward has five graded-stakes victories, each with a different horse.

Ward has about 70 horses in training, a number he said remains fairly steady.

“Those numbers go down with – I don't ever claim horses – so they go down as horses get claimed away. And then we kind of replenish with the yearlings coming next year.”

Speaking from his stables at Keeneland, Ward provided updates on his Breeders’ Cup hopefuls and others for Horse Racing Nation’s Barn Tour series.

Nakatomi. The Phoenix victory was the first win in four starts this year for the 6-year-old gelding by Firing Line. Dr. Jim Hay and his wife Fitriani bought a half interest in him from Qatar Racing last year. They live in Dubai, Ward said, and wanted him to race there. Since the purchase, he finished third in the 2024 Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) and second in this year’s edition, along with a win in last year’s Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1). “He’s a pretty cool guy,” Ward said of Nakatomi. “He won a Grade 1 for us last year, and he won a Grade 2 Phoenix here, which is a race I've always wanted to win, being stabled here for 17 years at Keeneland. So I finally got it done, or he finally got it done for me, and we're real excited for that horse. He's just a great horse. Off to the Breeders' Cup we go.”

No Nay Hudson. The Nearctic was the first graded-stakes win for this 5-year-old gelding by No Nay Never, and his second win in five starts this year. “This horse is a very talented horse, but he's one that needs a particular ride to win the race. And we kind of found that hard to do with this guy over the course of his career. He's kind of like, he likes the distance, five furlongs, but he's really almost like a four-and-a-half-furlong horse where If you're up there on the pace, he'll try hard, but he just can't quite get it. So if we get a rider that sits back and takes his time, is patient, then he seems to run his best races, and he's won a couple of races he shouldn't have won because of the rides. … So if we could ever bring Eddie D out of retirement, he'd probably be undefeated.” Pablo Morales rode No Nay Hudson for the first time in the Nearctic. Ward thinks No Nay Never will start next at the Breeders’ Cup. “I'd say he's likely to get in for a recent stakes win, and his numbers are pretty good too.”

Bostontonian. This 3-year-old Bernardini gelding was 3-for-3 last year and returned after an 11-month break with an optional-claiming allowance win at Aqueduct. “ He's kind of a hard-trying guy. He rattled off about three in a row last year and we couldn't get him right, just couldn't get him to where he was finishing in his works. And we gave him the winter off and we had him in the spring. He just wasn't right, wasn't right, wasn't right. That comes into play where the owner's got to trust the trainer, because a year off is a long time to be patient. And we're fortunate enough that they let me do it. And finally, last few works, he sparked right up there for us and we put him in and he won.” As for his next start, “Well, he ran a big number on the Ragozin Sheets, so I've always found that if you rush them back, then they kind of give you the finger, so to speak. So I'd like to probably give him about five, six weeks between starts and bring him back to New York, being a New York-bred, and put him in an allowance race.”

Whatchatalkinabout. This 4-year-old gelding by Dialed In was third last out in the Phoenix, and he won the John A. Nerud (G3) in May. “He had a bad trip the other day. Steve Asmussen's horse, Skelly, got left at the gate and then kind of ran off with the jock, and then we got stuck right behind him and he just wasn't able to run the last part of the race because he got buried down in there, where the jock had to kind of take him all the way through the lane. And then he was only able to run the last few jumps and jumped up for third. Otherwise he'd have given Nakatomi a run for his money.” Ward is “shooting for the Breeders’ Cup” with this one too.

Longshoreman. Ward also is planning on the Breeders’ Cup with this 2-year-old Twirling Candy colt, who was second in Friday’s Futurity (G3) at Aqueduct, bringing his record to 4: 1-2-0. “We don't know if we're going to get in, but we're going to hope to.” In the Futurity, “he kind of stumbled at the start and rushed up and got faulted late, but that was six furlongs where the Breeders' Cup is five.”

Schwarzenegger. This 2-year-old by Not This time was second in his debut at Saratoga then returned with a win in the listed Indian Summer at Keeneland on Sunday, making him a hopeful for the Breeders’ Cup. “He ran awfully good the other day. I've always been excited about this guy, and he came through for us on a big day and came out of the race in good shape. And here we go.”

Shoot It True. This 3-year-old filly won her last two starts, an allowance and an optional claimer at Saratoga. She is pointed to the Senator Ken Maddy at Del Mar on the Breeders’ Cup undercard Nov. 1.

Arrest Me Red. The 7-year-old Pioneerof the Nile gelding is 1-for-5 this year, most recently finishing fifth in the Woodford (G2) at Keeneland on Saturday. “It's too bad, that old guy, he's been this awesome horse to train, kind of a fickle guy. … He gets all kind of anticipating the race and kind of washes out, and I ask the stewards for permission to school him in the first race of the day on the day he runs to kind of get the nervous jitters out of him. … He's just all completely washed out, just anticipating a run, and we bring him back to the barn and give him a bath, and put him in the stall. And then when you lead him over for the race, then he's already got that out of him, and he runs great.” At Keeneland, he schooled in the gate during schooling time, and “he was pretty good until he got out to the track. … It was a hot day, he got a little washy, and he got in the gate and unbelievably, he broke through the gate. So they reloaded him, and I've never had one win yet (after breaking through) in 35 years of training racehorses, so that kind of got us.” After some time off, he could return at Turfway. “With that nervousness, he really does well over at Turfway in the winter because it's cold and he ends up getting hot. And then that kind of helps him on those cold nights.”

Running Away. This 3-year-old Gun Runner filly had won four of five starts, including the Monmouth Oaks (G3), before finishing 10th in the Dueling Grounds Oaks (G3) at Kentucky Downs in September. “I figured we'd take a chance and run her down in Kentucky Downs and see if she couldn't bounce out there, and she wasn't quite as good as the other fillies in that race, and she got beat. And so I went ahead and sent her back home to the farm. And it's up to Goncalo Torrealba (chairman of owner Three Chimneys) and his team if they want to bring her back into training or let her be a mom after what she accomplished, multiple stakes winner. So it's up to them. She's very sound. I don't know what they'll decide.”

Funtastic Again. The 5-year-old son of Funtastic won the June 28 Dominion Day (G3) at Woodbine in his most recent start. “We entered an allowance race. It didn't go and they're going to bring it back, so hopefully he'll get a chance to run here at Keeneland. Otherwise, we'll find a spot for him shortly. He's a nice horse.”