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Wesley Ward Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Presented by Keeneland

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Wesley Ward is known for training fast horses and, once again, he has one of the quickest horse on the planet in his barn in Bacio (Maclean’s Music), who will be favored in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Bacio’s credentials jump off the page. He is 5-for-6 lifetime and is coming off a win in the G1 Nunthrope Stakes at York. To discuss Bacio and his other Breeders’ Cup starters, Ward joined this week’s TDN Writers’ Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

When asked to compare Bacio to some of his other sprint sensations, like Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) and No Nay Never(Scat Daddy), Ward gave Bacio high marks.

“He’s got a nearly unbeaten record,” he said. “He’s very, very fast and he has an extreme desire to stay in front when he gets there. So that puts him right up there.”

Bacio is a horse who always goes right to the front and dares anyone to come and catch him. But there is a lot of other speed in the Turf Sprint. Does that concern Ward?

“He only knows one way to go, and he’s a really good gate horse,” Ward said. “When they say go, he’s gone. The first few strides away from that gate, he’s quick and fast and agile. A lot will be determined in the first few strides out of the break, as far as who’s in front and on the lead. All the riders will have to make a determination, as well as ours, if ours gets away slow.”

Ward will also send out the 7-year-old veteran Nakatomi (Firing Line) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint. It will mark his fourth straight appearance in the race. Ward knows that nothing will come easily for the gelding, but reports that he is thriving coming into the race. Nakatomi is 5-for-8 lifetime at Keeneland.

“He’s a warrior and he loves his job. He loves being a racehorse,” Ward said. “I don’t like to run him back too quick. That’s one of the reasons for his longevity. I space his races out and give him the winters off. So he is running back quick, and that is a little bit of a question mark. But if you saw the way he pulled up out of his most recent work, he was bucking and kicking like he’s a two-year-old. So I think that’s an indication of how he’s going to do. It is a Breeders’ Cup race and they are always very tough races. It’s his home court and any time you play on your own home court you have an advantage in any sport.”

As for the “Fastest Horse of the Week,” that honor went to Disco Time (Not This Time). The Brad Cox-trained colt earned a 104 Beyer Figure when winning an Oct. 14 allowance race at Belmont. The Fastest Horse of the Week is sponsored by WinStar Farm, which stands the sire Patch Adams.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, Sky Racing, the KTOB and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley discussed the last-minute decision to withdraw Ombudsman(Ire) (Night of Thunder ({Ire}) from the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf and discussed the major storyline that will be part of this year’s Breeders’ Cup. The list included who might be Horse of the Year, whether sprint sensation Englishman (Maxfield) can be beaten and how dominant will the European contingent prove to be? The team also looked at The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred and discussed ideas that might leading to growing the foal crop outside of Kentucky and reviewed the GI Everest Stakes run at Royal Randwick in Australia.

To listen to the audio version of the podcast, click here. For the video, click here.

The post Wesley Ward Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Upstart Share, Life Is Good Lifetime Breeding Right, 50 Percent Interest in Breeders’ Cup Bound Citrus Springs Added to Keeneland Championship Sale

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Three additional supplements have been added to the catalog for Keeneland’s Championship Sale on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Castleton: a 2.5% fractional interest in leading sire Upstart; a lifetime breeding right in Life Is Good; and a 50% ownership interest in stakes-winning 2-year-old filly Citrus Springs (Olympiad), who was pre-entered in the $1-million GI John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

Upstart, who bred a career-high 179 mares in 2026, will stand for $40,000 in 2027 at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Kentucky. The share is consigned by Claiborne Farm, agent.

His runners include this year’s GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes winner Percy’s Bar and undefeated GIII Pocahontas Stakes winner Manuka Honey, who was pre-entered in the $2-million GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

The breeding right provides lifetime access to the stallion without the expenses or equity associated with ownership in the syndicate. The lifetime breeding right is consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, agent.

Life Is Good‘s early success includes Grade I winner The Good Life, winner of this year’s Spendthrift Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, and multiple stakes winner Waggley, who captured the Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs and the Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows.

Citrus Springs broke her maiden by 5 lengths going 7 furlongs at Gowran Park in Ireland on Aug. 12 before traveling to Kentucky where she captured the Pepsi Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes in her U.S. debut. With that victory, she became the first stakes winner for her sire, Olympiad.

Citrus Springs is out of a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner and Grade I-placed Protonico.

The 50% interest is consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

The Keeneland Championship Sale will take place Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Castleton in Lexington, with the live auction beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the offering of Castleton itself, the historic 951-acre horse farm.

Attendance is by invitation only, with bidding available in person, online and by phone. All prospective bidders must pre-register and request credit to participate.

For the interactive catalog, registration information and additional details, visit www.Championship.Keeneland.com.

The post Upstart Share, Life Is Good Lifetime Breeding Right, 50 Percent Interest in Breeders’ Cup Bound Citrus Springs Added to Keeneland Championship Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Wesley Ward Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Presented by Keeneland

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Wesley Ward is known for training fast horses and, once again, he has one of the quickest horse on the planet in his barn in Bacio (Maclean’s Music), who will be favored in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Bacio’s credentials jump off the page. He is 5-for-6 lifetime and is coming off a win in the G1 Nunthrope Stakes at York. To discuss Bacio and his other Breeders’ Cup starters, Ward joined this week’s TDN Writers’ Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. He was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.

When asked to compare Bacio to some of his other sprint sensations, like Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) and No Nay Never(Scat Daddy), Ward gave Bacio high marks.

“He’s got a nearly unbeaten record,” he said. “He’s very, very fast and he has an extreme desire to stay in front when he gets there. So that puts him right up there.”

Bacio is a horse who always goes right to the front and dares anyone to come and catch him. But there is a lot of other speed in the Turf Sprint. Does that concern Ward?

“He only knows one way to go, and he’s a really good gate horse,” Ward said. “When they say go, he’s gone. The first few strides away from that gate, he’s quick and fast and agile. A lot will be determined in the first few strides out of the break, as far as who’s in front and on the lead. All the riders will have to make a determination, as well as ours, if ours gets away slow.”

Ward will also send out the 7-year-old veteran Nakatomi (Firing Line) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint. It will mark his fourth straight appearance in the race. Ward knows that nothing will come easily for the gelding, but reports that he is thriving coming into the race. Nakatomi is 5-for-8 lifetime at Keeneland.

“He’s a warrior and he loves his job. He loves being a racehorse,” Ward said. “I don’t like to run him back too quick. That’s one of the reasons for his longevity. I space his races out and give him the winters off. So he is running back quick, and that is a little bit of a question mark. But if you saw the way he pulled up out of his most recent work, he was bucking and kicking like he’s a two-year-old. So I think that’s an indication of how he’s going to do. It is a Breeders’ Cup race and they are always very tough races. It’s his home court and any time you play on your own home court you have an advantage in any sport.”

As for the “Fastest Horse of the Week,” that honor went to Disco Time (Not This Time). The Brad Cox-trained colt earned a 104 Beyer Figure when winning an Oct. 14 allowance race at Belmont. The Fastest Horse of the Week is sponsored by WinStar Farm, which stands the sire Patch Adams.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, Sky Racing, the KTOB and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and Bill Finley discussed the last-minute decision to withdraw Ombudsman(Ire) (Night of Thunder ({Ire}) from the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf and discussed the major storyline that will be part of this year’s Breeders’ Cup. The list included who might be Horse of the Year, whether sprint sensation Englishman (Maxfield) can be beaten and how dominant will the European contingent prove to be? The team also looked at The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred and discussed ideas that might leading to growing the foal crop outside of Kentucky and reviewed the GI Everest Stakes run at Royal Randwick in Australia.

To listen to the audio version of the podcast, click here. For the video, click here.

The post Wesley Ward Joins TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Upstart Share, Life Is Good Lifetime Breeding Right, 50 Percent Interest in Breeders’ Cup Bound Citrus Springs Added to Keeneland Championship Sale

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Three additional supplements have been added to the catalog for Keeneland’s Championship Sale on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Castleton: a 2.5% fractional interest in leading sire Upstart; a lifetime breeding right in Life Is Good; and a 50% ownership interest in stakes-winning 2-year-old filly Citrus Springs (Olympiad), who was pre-entered in the $1-million GI John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

Upstart, who bred a career-high 179 mares in 2026, will stand for $40,000 in 2027 at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Kentucky. The share is consigned by Claiborne Farm, agent.

His runners include this year’s GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes winner Percy’s Bar and undefeated GIII Pocahontas Stakes winner Manuka Honey, who was pre-entered in the $2-million GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland on Oct. 30.

The breeding right provides lifetime access to the stallion without the expenses or equity associated with ownership in the syndicate. The lifetime breeding right is consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, agent.

Life Is Good‘s early success includes Grade I winner The Good Life, winner of this year’s Spendthrift Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, and multiple stakes winner Waggley, who captured the Kentucky Juvenile at Churchill Downs and the Prairie Gold Juvenile at Prairie Meadows.

Citrus Springs broke her maiden by 5 lengths going 7 furlongs at Gowran Park in Ireland on Aug. 12 before traveling to Kentucky where she captured the Pepsi Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies Stakes in her U.S. debut. With that victory, she became the first stakes winner for her sire, Olympiad.

Citrus Springs is out of a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner and Grade I-placed Protonico.

The 50% interest is consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent.

The Keeneland Championship Sale will take place Wednesday, Oct. 28, at Castleton in Lexington, with the live auction beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. The evening will culminate with the offering of Castleton itself, the historic 951-acre horse farm.

Attendance is by invitation only, with bidding available in person, online and by phone. All prospective bidders must pre-register and request credit to participate.

For the interactive catalog, registration information and additional details, visit www.Championship.Keeneland.com.

The post Upstart Share, Life Is Good Lifetime Breeding Right, 50 Percent Interest in Breeders’ Cup Bound Citrus Springs Added to Keeneland Championship Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.