Majestic Oops targets Apple Blossom after Azeri upset

Majestic Oops will point to the $1.25 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 11 at Oaklawn after turning the tables on her Breeders' Cup Distaff rivals in Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Azeri Stakes.

Trainer Dan Ward said the 6-year-old mare exited the Azeri in good order and is on track for the 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom, Oaklawn's signature two-turn event for older fillies and mares and a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Distaff.

"You only get a certain amount of chances to run throughout the year and there's so much time in between races and everything," Ward said Sunday. "I'm here all the time, like 12 hours a day, every day. And when you see a horse run like that, it's amazing."

Majestic Oops parlayed a sharp four-wide move turning for home into a three-quarter-length victory over Regaled under Francisco Arrieta in the 1 1/16-mile Azeri. Nitrogen, North America's champion 3-year-old filly of 2025, finished a length farther back in third as the 1-5 favorite. The winning time over a sloppy, sealed surface was 1:43.36.

The Azeri featured three starters from the Breeders' Cup Distaff Nov. 1 at Del Mar – runner-up Nitrogen, third-place finisher Regaled and Majestic Oops, who ran ninth. The order of finish was reversed Saturday.

The victory was the first in graded company for Majestic Oops ($20.60) and the biggest to date for Ward, 67, who struck out on his own in the summer of 2023 after lengthy stints under National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame trainers Bobby Frankel and Jerry Hollendorfer.

Majestic Oops received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 94 from Daily Racing Form for the Azeri, two points higher than she earned for winning Oaklawn's six-furlong, $150,000 American Beauty Stakes Feb. 13.

Ward had originally planned to keep Majestic Oops around one turn in Oaklawn's $250,000 Matron Stakes March 27. But co-owner Mark Martinez (Agave Racing Stable) also has an interest in Arkansas-bred star Haulin Ice, who is targeting the six-furlong Matron after winning the 2025 edition for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.

Ward said the ownership group was also seeking a graded stakes victory to boost Majestic Oops' broodmare value.

In addition to Agave Racing Stable, Majestic Oops races for Medallion Racing (Phillip Shelton), Evan Trommer and Sheila Regan.

Majestic Oops had run in four previous graded races, finishing second in the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3) July 19 at Monmouth Park, third in the Ballerina Stakes (G1) Aug. 23 at Saratoga and fourth in the Delaware Handicap (G3) Sept. 28 at Delaware Park. She was beaten 16 1/2 lengths in the Breeders' Cup Distaff, which completed a busy 11-race campaign in 2025.

"We came right from Del Mar to Cincinnati and then here," Ward said. "She had the whole rest of the month of November off. You don't have to train her too hard. I learned a long time ago from Bobby not to send mares out. If you're going to give a horse time off, a filly or mare, keep them in the barn. I go by a lot of what he's taught me. You get them out there on the farm sometimes and they're not breeding, then they come back in and they don't run the same."

Majestic Oops has a 35: 9-11-4 record with earnings of $952,309. The Azeri was her fourth career stakes victory. She also won the $200,000 Dig a Diamond Stakes last April at Oaklawn and the Lady's Secret Stakes June 14 at Monmouth Park.

A daughter of Majestic Harbor, Majestic Oops was bred in California by William Dory, Sandy Dory, Gary Kropp and Janet Kropp. She has been under Ward's care since late 2024.