Wesley Ward: Keep the faith with Outfielder Wesley Ward remains confident about the future of Outfielder following his fourth-place finish in the Prix Morny at Deauville. Outfielder shows promise despite tough Prix Morny run The Speightstown colt made a huge impression when scorching clear on his Churchill Downs debut, and although a minor setback prevented a planned Royal Ascot appearance, he eventually travelled to Europe for a Group One contest. Outfielder became restless in the stalls, was removed and reloaded, and slightly missed the break, but soon recovered to lead the six-strong field before fading late. “It was certainly the toughest Morny I’ve ever been in as far as the competition goes,” said Ward. “He was a little fractious in the gate. We asked to load him late, but they denied us, so we had to go in in post-position order and he reared up and got his foot caught on the side of the gate, according to David Egan. “David had them back him out, which was good, and maybe he got his composure back when he went back in, but then he broke a tad slow. The good thing is he wasn’t impeded by the horses on either side of him, so in the next couple of strides he got himself back together and off he went.” Outfielder was beaten less than three lengths by the unbeaten Venetian Sun, with Coventry Stakes hero Gstaad second and Rose Bowl winner Wise Approach third. Ward optimistic for future plans and possible distance step-up Ward praised the performance given Outfielder’s inexperience. “It was such a tough race and I was proud of the way he fought on, there were just three horses better than him, but he ran a good race considering he’d only had one run whereas the others had had multiple runs,” he said. “Given he hadn’t had another start since his maiden and this was also his first time out of Kentucky, the others had a little bit of an experience edge on him, so I was proud he didn’t throw in the towel. He ran a valiant race, and he’s now back in the States, so we’ll get him home and have a meeting with the owners and my partners and make a new plan.” Ward also suggested the colt could be stepped up in distance. “There’s a little bit of unknown with this guy… if you look at him, you’d think he’d want to go around two turns here in America, so we’ll just see how he is after this big effort and make a new plan. Whether that be sprinting or stretching out a little bit, I’m sure he’ll tell us with his morning breezes.”
