Horse named after former MLB All-Star ruled out of Royal Ascot
Outfielder, co-owned by Jayson Werth, Amo Racing and trainer Wesley Ward, joins a lengthening list of equine stars who will miss the prestigious fixture
An exciting horse named after a former MLB All-Star will not make the trip to Royal Ascot after suffering a setback. Outfielder, co-owned by Jayson Werth, Kia Joorabchian's Amo Racing and trainer Wesley Ward, was second favourite for the Norfolk Stakes after making a stunning debut in which he scored by seven lengths.
Werth played as an outfielder for many top teams during a 15 year career in Major League Baseball, including the Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals, and was looking forward to having his first runner at the meeting.
During a three year spell with the Philadelphia Phillies, he played a pivotal role in the team's defeat of the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series.
Since he launched his own racing operation, Two Eight Racing, Werth has enjoyed big race success with Dornoch, who captured the 2024 Belmont Stakes.
Ward, who has saddled 12 Royal Ascot winners, had identified Outfielder as his number one pick for the royal meeting, describing the colt as 'very quick, very smart and a highly intelligent colt.'
He added: 'Jayson Werth is a big name in baseball and Outfielder was his position and I chose the name and cleared it with Kia and when I told Jayson as a surprise, he was elated the horse was named after him.'
However, Outfielder was ruled out after a workout at Keeneland with Ward telling the TDN the colt had been sidelined by 'a bit of a shin issue.'
The five day Royal Ascot meeting, which starts on Tuesday, has suffered a number of withdrawals of its biggest names in recent days.
On Tuesday Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics was ruled out of the the £1 million Prince of Wales's Stakes after pulling a muscle.
He joined a list which already included Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Lake Victoria, who had been favourite for the Coronation Stakes, and last year's winner of the fillies' Group 1 Porta Fortuna who will be out until the second half of the season.
Lake Victoria's trainer Aidan O'Brien has also been forced to scratched his top two-year-old challenger Albert Einstein as well as retiring Kyprios the two-time Ascot Gold Cup winner.
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