No Nay Never Returns to Turf in Woodford
Ice Wine Stable, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s No Nay Never, a two-time Group winner on the grass in Europe last year as a 2-year-old, will return to the turf Saturday and face 10 runners in the 18th running of the $150,000 Woodford Presented by Keeneland Select (G3) at 5½ furlongs.
The Woodford will be the first of five graded stakes on Saturday’s 10-race program and will go as the fifth race with a 3:25 p.m. ET post time.
Trained by Wesley Ward, No Nay Never has not started since finishing second in the Swale (G2) on March 1 in his lone start on dirt. Mike Smith has the mount Saturday on No Nay Never and will break from post position nine.
Chief rivals to No Nay Never are Marchman and Positive Side, the 1-2 finishers in this year’s Shakertown (G3), the spring equivalent of the Woodford, and Sharp Sensation, winner of the Turf Monster (G3) at Parx in his most recent start.
Owned by the Martin Racing Stable and trained by Bret Calhoun, Marchman followed his spring Keeneland victory with a triumph in the Turf Sprint (G3) at Churchill Downs on May 2. Robby Albarado has the mount Saturday and will break from post position 10.
Positive Side, owned by Team Forster 131 and trained by Grant Forster, finished third in the Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs and was second this summer in the Arlington Sprint. Positive Side will be ridden by Leandro Goncalves and break from post position five.
Susan and Jim Hill’s Sharp Sensation is trained by Reade Baker. David Moran, who rode Sharp Sensation to victory in the Turf Monster, has the call Saturday and will break from post position six.
The field for the Woodford Presented by Keeneland Select, from the rail out, is: Tell All You Know (Joel Rosario, 120 pounds), Choctaw Chuck (Willie Martinez, 118), No Distinction (Calvin Borel, 120), Mongol Bull (Edgar Perez, 120), Positive Side (Goncalves, 120), Sharp Sensation (Moran, 122), Sum of the Parts (Julien Leparoux, 120), Console (Rosie Napravnik, 120), No Nay Never (Smith, 118), Marchman (Albarado, 124) and Spring to the Sky (John Velazquez, 124).
Source: Keeneland