Ward enters two Scat Daddy fillies in Keeneland juvenile maiden

Wesley Ward has unveiled some brilliant juveniles at Keeneland in recent years, and the trainer is wasting no time in getting started at the upcoming spring meet. Two Ward pupils are entered in Friday’s 1ST race, a 4 1/2-furlong dash with an overflow field of 14.

Both are fillies by Scat Daddy – the sire of No Nay Never, Acapulco, and Lady Aurelia, who all went on to glory at Royal Ascot for Ward. No Nay Never and Lady Aurelia debuted at Keeneland, as did Ward’s Royal Ascot stars Hootenanny (the eventual winner of the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf [G1]) and Jealous Again.

The more expensive of Ward’s duo, Fairyland, was a $375,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier. Bred by Runnymede Farm and Peter J. Callahan, the February 4-foaled chestnut is out of the Elusive Quality mare Dame Ursula.

Upon her arrival, Runnymede’s General Manager, Romain Malhouitre, said “She is a beautiful, tall filly with plenty of bone. We hope they all come out looking as good as she does.”

Dame Ursula has had two previous foals, and her only runner is three-time winner Bosphorus Storm. Fairyland’s dam is in turn a half-sister to Japanese champion Agnes Digital, from the further family of influential sire Blushing Groom.

With three published works so far, Fairyland has covered three furlongs in :36.90 at Palm Meadows March 12, a :37.00 move from the Keeneland gate on March 25, and a half-mile breeze in :50.00 on Sunday.

Fairyland is drawn in post 12, the far outside of the main body of the field. Jockey Julio Garcia, who sports a 25 percent strike rate with Ward runners for the last 60 days (according to Brisnet), has the mount.

Stablemate Kitty Kat Kate, a $180,000 “short” yearling at Keeneland January when she’d barely celebrated her official birthday, sold to The People Racing for $140,000 later that September. As an April 16 foal, she has yet to reach her actual birthday.

The Martha Jane Mulholland-bred is a half-sister to stakes winner Rugula, the runner-up in the 2005 Fantasy (G2) and seventh in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Their dam, the winning Skywalker mare Skygusty, is responsible for three other winners, including the stakes-placed Sarah’s Song. The juvenile’s third dam is Terra Incognita, unbeaten heroine of the 1987 Alcibiades (G2) at Keeneland.

Kitty Kat Kate likewise has three works on her resume – an identical :36.90 for three furlongs on the same day as Fairyland at Palm Meadows, a :36.60 from the gate at Keeneland March 24, and a :51.00 half last Saturday. Jose Ortiz is named to ride from post 6.

Scenic photo courtesy Keeneland/Coady Photography