Despite defeat, Backyard Heaven has major campaign ahead

Before Backyard Heaven’s run earlier this month at the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap, owner Ken Ramsey envisioned the lightly raced 4-year-old would follow the same path taken last year by Horse of the Year Gun runner.

A sixth-place finish at Churchill Downs didn't change Ramsey’s mind.

“That will give you a few ideas for how high we are on this horse,” Ramsey said. “We’re drawing a line through the Stephen Foster.”

Be it nighttime temperatures that touched nearly 90 degrees, or racing under the lights for the first time, Backyard Heaven positioned well but came up empty in the stretch, counting him among those out-run by West Coast invader Pavel.

Still, Ramsey said the Chad Brown-trained son of Tizway will make his next start in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes on Aug. 4. Plans then call for a try at the Grade 1 Woodward on Sept. 1 before the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill.

“If he’s won one of the three, I’ll be looking for a spot in the Pegasus World Cup, a little $16 million race at Gulfstream Park,” Ramsey said, adding he’s already also had some preliminary conversations with interests in the Dubai World Cup.

Ramsey, who campaigns horses with his wife, Sarah, in 2005 won the Dubai World Cup with Roses in May. The couple hasn’t yet started a horse in the Pegasus, which has run twice.

“I’ll be looking for a new challenge,” Ramsey said. “This horse appears to have what it takes. He’s a fresh horse — only 4 years old — and doesn’t have that many starts. He won the Alysheba in very impressive fashion” back in May, with the victory over Always Dreaming the race that put this horse on the map.

“We beat one Derby winner,” Ramsey added. “Who knows — we might beat another if they hook up with each other in the Classic at Churchill Downs.”

The other, of course, being Justify. Again, Ramsey likes his horse, with Backyard Heaven named after his experiences watching morning training from a home at Saratoga each summer.

A $160,000 purchase, Backyard Heaven was slow to get to the races due to a pair of sinus infections during his 3-year-old season. Finally, the colt debuted on Sept. 10, won his first race Dec. 10 and climbed conditions with a March 17 allowance victory. From there he stepped right up to take the Grade 2 Alysheba. Ramsey began dreaming.

In the shorter term, Ramsey’s looking forward to Saturday. He’ll celebrate owners title No. 31 at Churchill Downs from afar, packing a new silk top hat he purchased on last week’s Royal Ascot trip. He's headed out of town again for the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine, where the Ramseys will have three entries in the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

“Probably won’t win it this year — we don’t have the horses — but I’ve got three Canadian-breds, they’re all eligible, so what the hell?” Ramsey said. “Put them in and let them run.”