LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It’s no surprise that Keeneland-based trainer Wesley Ward has multiple 2-year-olds to van down the highway to Churchill Downs for Thursday’s $250,000 Kentucky Juvenile. In typical fashion, he dominated the 2-year-old races at the recently concluded Keeneland spring meet, winning five of the 10 offered. No other trainer won more than one.
Ward will ship Keeneland maiden winners Double Talker and Pinky Finger, as well as the maiden Diblasi, into Churchill Downs, but said he is likely to only run two, and may decide on race day. If Diblasi does remain in the race, he won’t be an outlier; six of the eight Kentucky Juvenile entrants are maidens, with Ward’s pair the only winners.
Pinky Finger threw down the gauntlet early in the meet for Ward, cruising home by 7 1/2 lengths and running the 4 1/2 furlongs in 52.56 seconds. The next three finishers behind her, Happyhappyboy, Barstool, and Monster all return for the Kentucky Juvenile. Double Talker’s turn came a few days later, as he won by 3 1/2 lengths, in 52.29. The tracks for those two maiden races were rated good and muddy, respectively; a wet track may come in to play Thursday.
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After their debuts, Pinky Finger and Double Talker went in company for an April 19 breeze at Keeneland, going on the turf as Ward evaluated his juveniles for Royal Ascot prospects. Both were given an official time of 49.60 for the half-mile by Keeneland clockers, but Pinky Finger was best of the pair.
“I thought he might turn the tables on her on the grass, being by Hootenanny and out of a No Nay Never mare, but she was better,” Ward said.
Pinky Finger worked back on dirt, going a half in 49.60 last Friday, while Double Talker breezed a half on the wet turf in 51.20 on Saturday morning.
“I worked him back on the grass because he’s kind of a big, heavy guy,” Ward said. “And her I worked on the dirt, she had an excellent breeze. She’s just a runner, so she’s going to work well.”
If he runs, Diblasi merits a look. The gelding couldn’t catch another Ward filly, loose-on-the-lead stablemate Ohoopee, at a time of year when fillies are often sharper than males. But Diblasi was well clear of the rest in the April 16 maiden, which came back the fastest of the meet, at 51.95.
“She kind of bounced out there, and [Joel Rosario] took a hold of [Diblasi], didn’t want to go head to head and engage the filly,” Ward said. “So he did a good job, but to try to get him back going again, because he’s kind of a bigger colt, it was just a little bit too much for him to do when he had an uncontested lead.”
In addition to the three maidens coming out of Pinky Finger’s debut, the other entrants are Maximus Prime, who made up decent ground when second on debut and who may appreciate this five furlongs; and Daring Move, fourth in her first start.
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