US sprint king priced up favourably for 2015 Royal Ascot glory
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Ladbrokes have priced up a number of international horse racing outcomes for the year ahead as part of their 2015 specials, and while three or four in particular will appeal to eagle-eyed punters, there’s one bet that clearly stands above the rest.
Since June 2009, the name Wesley Ward has been synonymous with lightning-quick sprinters on British shores, especially around Royal Ascot.
Ward has enjoyed unprecedented success at the Berkshire track, becoming the first US-based trainer to ship a horse to England and win a stakes race at the Royal meeting, with 33/1 shot Strike The Tiger, five-and-a-half years ago in the Windsor Castle Stakes.
He went one better a day later, taking the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes with Jealous Again, and after a four-year hiatus Ward claimed prizes in each of the past two summers, thanks to No Nay Never in 2013 (Norfolk Stakes) and Hootenanny seven months ago (Windsor Castle Stakes).
The 46-year-old will surely have a new batch of super-swift two-year-olds for a crack at the valuable 5f dashes this summer, so 4/1 about Ward training his fifth Royal Ascot winner in 2015 should be snapped up.
Another 2015 International Racing special of interest is the 4/1 about a Japanese-trained horse winning the Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe, after both Harp Star and Just A Way ran gamely in France’s biggest Group 1 back in October.
Super-sire Deep Impact is producing plenty of talent for the likes of trainer Yuga Kawada to work with, and Harp Star ran a better race than his four-and-a-half length sixth suggested.
For the sentimental gambler, 10/1 about Red Cadeaux placing in the Melbourne Cup will pull at the heart strings, but shrewd punters will surely see opportunity in this wager as Ed Dunlop’s gelding has finished runner-up in this race three times and is still only nine.
Such backers may want more than 12/1 about any horse completing the US Triple Crown though, considering only 11 have done so in history, the last being in 1978.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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