Wesley Ward ‘excited' to mount Morny challenge with Outfielder
However, he was ruled out of the the trip to Britain following a late setback and for the first time in a decade his trainer did not have a runner at the summer showpiece meeting in Berkshire.
But two months on, Ward is gunning for more Group One glory on European soil in a race he has previously won with No Nay Never (2013), Lady Aurelia (2016) and Campanelle (2020).
'Outfielder left Keeneland yesterday (Wednesday), so away we go,' he said.
'He's flying right now, doing great and everything is wonderful. He's had some excellent morning breezes and I'm so excited to get this guy going.
'He won bounding away on his only start. It was a little bit of a rush job to get him to Ascot and he told us he hadn't quite recovered from his first effort to be ready for his next, but now he's ready.'
No Nay Never, Lady Aurelia and Campanelle had all struck Royal Ascot gold before following up at Deauville and while Ward admits Outfielder lacks that high-level match practice, he feels there is some upside in the fact he will line up fresh.
'He doesn't have quite the experience the others did because the others had two runs. They'd all run at home and run at Ascot,' the trainer added.
'This horse does have a bit better spacing in that all the others came back to America after Ascot and then had to travel again back to France, so he's got better spacing from race to race.
'His last workout was an eye-opener at Keeneland. He worked in company with a horse called Longshoreman, who is out of Lady Pauline, who actually ran at Ascot in a race prior to the Royal meeting a few years ago and finished second.
'Longshoreman finished second on his debut at Keeneland and then bounded away by many lengths, just like Outfielder did, so when we worked them together last week I was kind of unsure what would happen, but Outfielder just ran away from him.
'He would relish fast ground, that's for sure. It's always a question mark at Deauville, but right now he's doing great and we're excited about running him.'
Ward is named as a part-owner of Outfielder alongside Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing operation and former professional baseball player Jayson Werth, who is set to make the trip to France.
Ward, who also confirmed Amo Racing's retained rider David Egan is set to be on board, said: 'Jayson is a wonderful guy and it's great to have a great sportsman like him be involved in such a nice horse. We're excited about that as well.'
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North Wales Chronicle
8 minutes ago
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Richard Hughes no stranger to Nunthorpe success as he readies Sayidah Dariyan
Often content to bide his time in the plate, patience has again been the Irishman's watchword in the training ranks, ending his long wait for an elusive first Group One success as a trainer when No Half Measures won the July Cup earlier this summer. And ahead of Sayidah Dariyan's attempt to quickly double his tally at the highest level, the 52-year-old remembers delivering Edward Lynam's Sole Power with aplomb in the 2014 Nunthorpe, a ride which is often referred to as Hughes at the height of his powers. A shock winner when surging home at 100-1 four years previously, the seven-year-old was an established name in the spiriting division and fresh off victory at Royal Ascot when Hughes entered the stalls aboard the 11-4 favourite. What would ensue in the following 57.92 seconds was a display of calculated decision making as Hughes weaved his way to the front in the nick of time in an exhibition of horsemanship which was a hallmark of his decorated career in the saddle. 'It was really straightforward and I always felt it was a race you needed to get your fractions the same every furlong,' said Hughes 'It looked like Sole Power was quickening but he was going the same speed from the two-furlong pole to the one as he did from the one-pole to the winning post, I would say, and it was the others which stopped. Sole Power 🚀 Watch the 2025 Ebor Festival live on Racing TV next week @yorkracecourse 📺 — Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 13, 2025 'I had no choice for four furlongs as I was flat to the bat, I know I was sitting on him but I couldn't go any quicker. 'It was only then when the pace finally collapsed – and it took a good while but it eventually did – and they were all in a bit of a heap and collapsed at a similar time that I got going, and I had a bit of luck along the way to get through the pack. 'It does give you some extra satisfaction when you win like that and I enjoyed it, that's for sure.' There are many ways to get a job done and while Sole Power's daring late dash is the showreel finish any jockey would be proud to wax lyrical about, in stark contrast, Hughes' first Nunthorpe triumph aboard Oasis Dream in 2003 was a mere formality as the outstanding sprinter of his generation blew away his rivals. Majestically handled by John Gosden, he was an impressive winner of the July Cup before dropping back to five furlongs to prove equally spellbinding on the Knavesmire, leaving Hughes with little doubt where he stands in the pantheon of sprinting greats. He said: 'He was very, very fast and able to maintain it. He was a young horse at the time so he was exuberant. 'He would be one of the best sprinters I rode, he was third at Royal Ascot but won a July Cup and a Nunthorpe and not many do that, he was very good.' With triumphs in the saddle now confined to the memory bank and perhaps the odd photographic reminder on a wall, attentions turn to the next chapter in Hughes' Nunthorpe history book when Sayidah Dariyan takes her place in the showpiece sprint event. Successful over the course and distance in her most recent outing, Hughes is confident the talented daughter of Dariyan is coming to the boil at just the right time, as the Weathercock Stables handler looks to cap a breakout year in the training ranks at the scene of some of his finest hours on horseback. One of the better rides you will see from @loughnane_billy, steering Sayidah Dariyan to victory in the Group Three @WilliamHill Summer Stakes, the filly staying on strongly to the line 👏 — York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) July 11, 2025 'It would be lovely to win as a trainer,' continued Hughes. 'It might be a bit harder than when I was a jockey but we hope we have a great chance. 'Sayidah Dariyan really is going the right way and last time when she won at York, it was the first time she was ridden the way I like. 'She was covered up and ridden for a turn of foot by Billy (Loughnane) and she just exploded. We were able to see the best of her ridden that way. 'I don't think coming back to five furlongs will be too much of a hindrance to her, she's quite fast. 'I wouldn't swap her for anything and with No Half Measures as well, we know we have two nice fillies.'
South Wales Guardian
8 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Richard Hughes no stranger to Nunthorpe success as he readies Sayidah Dariyan
Often content to bide his time in the plate, patience has again been the Irishman's watchword in the training ranks, ending his long wait for an elusive first Group One success as a trainer when No Half Measures won the July Cup earlier this summer. And ahead of Sayidah Dariyan's attempt to quickly double his tally at the highest level, the 52-year-old remembers delivering Edward Lynam's Sole Power with aplomb in the 2014 Nunthorpe, a ride which is often referred to as Hughes at the height of his powers. A shock winner when surging home at 100-1 four years previously, the seven-year-old was an established name in the spiriting division and fresh off victory at Royal Ascot when Hughes entered the stalls aboard the 11-4 favourite. What would ensue in the following 57.92 seconds was a display of calculated decision making as Hughes weaved his way to the front in the nick of time in an exhibition of horsemanship which was a hallmark of his decorated career in the saddle. 'It was really straightforward and I always felt it was a race you needed to get your fractions the same every furlong,' said Hughes 'It looked like Sole Power was quickening but he was going the same speed from the two-furlong pole to the one as he did from the one-pole to the winning post, I would say, and it was the others which stopped. Sole Power 🚀 Watch the 2025 Ebor Festival live on Racing TV next week @yorkracecourse 📺 — Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 13, 2025 'I had no choice for four furlongs as I was flat to the bat, I know I was sitting on him but I couldn't go any quicker. 'It was only then when the pace finally collapsed – and it took a good while but it eventually did – and they were all in a bit of a heap and collapsed at a similar time that I got going, and I had a bit of luck along the way to get through the pack. 'It does give you some extra satisfaction when you win like that and I enjoyed it, that's for sure.' There are many ways to get a job done and while Sole Power's daring late dash is the showreel finish any jockey would be proud to wax lyrical about, in stark contrast, Hughes' first Nunthorpe triumph aboard Oasis Dream in 2003 was a mere formality as the outstanding sprinter of his generation blew away his rivals. Majestically handled by John Gosden, he was an impressive winner of the July Cup before dropping back to five furlongs to prove equally spellbinding on the Knavesmire, leaving Hughes with little doubt where he stands in the pantheon of sprinting greats. He said: 'He was very, very fast and able to maintain it. He was a young horse at the time so he was exuberant. 'He would be one of the best sprinters I rode, he was third at Royal Ascot but won a July Cup and a Nunthorpe and not many do that, he was very good.' With triumphs in the saddle now confined to the memory bank and perhaps the odd photographic reminder on a wall, attentions turn to the next chapter in Hughes' Nunthorpe history book when Sayidah Dariyan takes her place in the showpiece sprint event. Successful over the course and distance in her most recent outing, Hughes is confident the talented daughter of Dariyan is coming to the boil at just the right time, as the Weathercock Stables handler looks to cap a breakout year in the training ranks at the scene of some of his finest hours on horseback. One of the better rides you will see from @loughnane_billy, steering Sayidah Dariyan to victory in the Group Three @WilliamHill Summer Stakes, the filly staying on strongly to the line 👏 — York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) July 11, 2025 'It would be lovely to win as a trainer,' continued Hughes. 'It might be a bit harder than when I was a jockey but we hope we have a great chance. 'Sayidah Dariyan really is going the right way and last time when she won at York, it was the first time she was ridden the way I like. 'She was covered up and ridden for a turn of foot by Billy (Loughnane) and she just exploded. We were able to see the best of her ridden that way. 'I don't think coming back to five furlongs will be too much of a hindrance to her, she's quite fast. 'I wouldn't swap her for anything and with No Half Measures as well, we know we have two nice fillies.'
Rhyl Journal
8 minutes ago
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Richard Hughes no stranger to Nunthorpe success as he readies Sayidah Dariyan
Often content to bide his time in the plate, patience has again been the Irishman's watchword in the training ranks, ending his long wait for an elusive first Group One success as a trainer when No Half Measures won the July Cup earlier this summer. And ahead of Sayidah Dariyan's attempt to quickly double his tally at the highest level, the 52-year-old remembers delivering Edward Lynam's Sole Power with aplomb in the 2014 Nunthorpe, a ride which is often referred to as Hughes at the height of his powers. A shock winner when surging home at 100-1 four years previously, the seven-year-old was an established name in the spiriting division and fresh off victory at Royal Ascot when Hughes entered the stalls aboard the 11-4 favourite. What would ensue in the following 57.92 seconds was a display of calculated decision making as Hughes weaved his way to the front in the nick of time in an exhibition of horsemanship which was a hallmark of his decorated career in the saddle. 'It was really straightforward and I always felt it was a race you needed to get your fractions the same every furlong,' said Hughes 'It looked like Sole Power was quickening but he was going the same speed from the two-furlong pole to the one as he did from the one-pole to the winning post, I would say, and it was the others which stopped. Sole Power 🚀 Watch the 2025 Ebor Festival live on Racing TV next week @yorkracecourse 📺 — Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 13, 2025 'I had no choice for four furlongs as I was flat to the bat, I know I was sitting on him but I couldn't go any quicker. 'It was only then when the pace finally collapsed – and it took a good while but it eventually did – and they were all in a bit of a heap and collapsed at a similar time that I got going, and I had a bit of luck along the way to get through the pack. 'It does give you some extra satisfaction when you win like that and I enjoyed it, that's for sure.' There are many ways to get a job done and while Sole Power's daring late dash is the showreel finish any jockey would be proud to wax lyrical about, in stark contrast, Hughes' first Nunthorpe triumph aboard Oasis Dream in 2003 was a mere formality as the outstanding sprinter of his generation blew away his rivals. Majestically handled by John Gosden, he was an impressive winner of the July Cup before dropping back to five furlongs to prove equally spellbinding on the Knavesmire, leaving Hughes with little doubt where he stands in the pantheon of sprinting greats. He said: 'He was very, very fast and able to maintain it. He was a young horse at the time so he was exuberant. 'He would be one of the best sprinters I rode, he was third at Royal Ascot but won a July Cup and a Nunthorpe and not many do that, he was very good.' With triumphs in the saddle now confined to the memory bank and perhaps the odd photographic reminder on a wall, attentions turn to the next chapter in Hughes' Nunthorpe history book when Sayidah Dariyan takes her place in the showpiece sprint event. Successful over the course and distance in her most recent outing, Hughes is confident the talented daughter of Dariyan is coming to the boil at just the right time, as the Weathercock Stables handler looks to cap a breakout year in the training ranks at the scene of some of his finest hours on horseback. One of the better rides you will see from @loughnane_billy, steering Sayidah Dariyan to victory in the Group Three @WilliamHill Summer Stakes, the filly staying on strongly to the line 👏 — York Racecourse (@yorkracecourse) July 11, 2025 'It would be lovely to win as a trainer,' continued Hughes. 'It might be a bit harder than when I was a jockey but we hope we have a great chance. 'Sayidah Dariyan really is going the right way and last time when she won at York, it was the first time she was ridden the way I like. 'She was covered up and ridden for a turn of foot by Billy (Loughnane) and she just exploded. We were able to see the best of her ridden that way. 'I don't think coming back to five furlongs will be too much of a hindrance to her, she's quite fast. 'I wouldn't swap her for anything and with No Half Measures as well, we know we have two nice fillies.'
