Bacio and Hernandez backed to end Nunthorpe wait for Ward

Wesley Ward has confirmed Juan Hernandez will keep the ride on Bacio in next week’s Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes.

York glory is very much on the bucket list for Keeneland-based Ward, having saddled the two-year-old Acapulco to finish second in 2015 under Irad Ortiz Jr and come even closer to victory two years later with Lady Aurelia, with Frankie Dettori memorably celebrating passing the post only to find he had actually been beaten a nose by Marsha.

Dettori was also in the plate when Golden Pal disappointed in the 2021 Nunthorpe, but Ward will resist the temptation to go for a British-based rider this time around, instead keeping the faith in Hernandez, who steered Bacio to his runaway victory in the Palace of Holyroodhouse at Royal Ascot.

“We’re very happy to have a rider that knows the horse and the good thing is they race Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Del Mar so he’ll only miss the Friday and will be able to get back and ride in the Pacific Classic on the Saturday,” he said on Monday.

“They don’t race there (at Del Mar) throughout the week, so he’ll be able to get to York nice and early and I was very impressed with his rides for me at Ascot. He ran third in the Queen Mary and won with this guy and seems straight down the pipe.

“A lot of times it can be difficult for American riders not having a turn, but this guy seems to do it like he does it every day, so we’re happy to have him.”

While on the face of it Bacio faces a significant step up in class on the Knavesmire, his handicap success at the Royal meeting was achieved in a quicker time than it took to run the King Charles III Stakes on the same card.

The three-year-old has already set out on the long journey to Britain and Ward hopes to see him have a workout at York after his arrival.

He added: “He’s on his way to Chicago right now to jump on the direct flight to Prestwick in Scotland tonight. He’s going to be based at York, hopefully he’ll have a workout there on the course prior to the race and away we go.

“We gave him a little bit of time and he went to my farm after Ascot. He swam in swimming pool and did a little bit of grazing for a couple of weeks, then he came back to the track and I don’t train him very hard as he’s kind of a small horse and he’s just been working week in and week out.

“He hasn’t missed a workout. He was scheduled to breeze today as they were going to open up the grass course for us here at Keeneland, but unfortunately that couldn’t happen so hopefully he’ll be able to have a workout at York as we’re travelling so far ahead of time.

“I didn’t want him to have his last workout on the dirt as the grass is more forgiving. He’s doing fantastic right now, so I didn’t want to risk him on the dirt at Keeneland for his last work.

“He’s doing really, really good, which is why I’m doing everything I can to keep him in the shape he’s in right now.”

Bacio is the general 3-1 favourite for the Nunthorpe, giving his trainer confidence he can break his Nunthorpe duck.

Ward said: “Obviously it’s a highly competitive race. I don’t know too much about the competition, but I see they’ve got him installed as favourite, which is always nice.

“Whether he’s favourite or not when they go to post is another story, but at least going into it right now we’re feeling good about it.”