Ward backing Bacio to end his wait for Nunthorpe glory

Wesley Ward admits Bacio will be “jumping in at the deep end” when he tries to make the leap from handicap good thing to genuine Group One contender in the Coolmore City Of Troy Nunthorpe Stakes at York next month.

After near-misses in the race with Acapulco and Lady Aurelia, the Keeneland-based trainer is hopeful that in Bacio he might finally have the raw material to land the Knavesmire’s sprint championship.

Bacio left a competitive field toiling in his wake when winning the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes over the minimum trip at Royal Ascot, scorching clear up the stands rail to win by approaching four lengths.

While Ward concedes they are stepping into unknown territory, they are doing so with the evidence of the clock to back them up, with Bacio winning in a quicker time than it took to run the Group One King Charles III Stakes on the same card.

“Is he up to going up to a stakes race? Well, that is what we are hoping. That’s why we are jumping in at the deep end of the pool,” Ward told the Press Association from his Keeneland base.

“He is an extremely talented horse who has only been beaten once and we are looking forward to this race.”

Ward has endured two close-run things in the Nunthorpe, with his two-year-old Acapuclo holding a clear lead inside the final furlong only to be cut down close home by Mecca’s Angel in 2015 and then, even more agonisingly, with Lady Aurelia who was pipped on the line under Frankie Dettori in 2017.

“On Lady Aurelia I remember Frankie sat up and gave the old salute like he had won it, but I wasn’t quite as sure as him and sure enough we didn’t,” said Ward of the defeat by the slenderest of margins to Sir Mark Prescott’s filly Marsha.

Hitting the bar twice has done nothing to put off the irrepressible Ward and with York generally favouring prominent racers he will attempt to make it third time lucky with his latest Royal Ascot winner.

“It is quite expensive, but being a Group One winner for this guy would make a big difference. We are going to bypass a $2million race down the street – the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes – and we are going to travel.

“It is a race I have been second in twice. It’s a very historic race. It is a front-runners’ track. He will be in front and hopefully, this time, the whole way. He is certainly as fast as racehorses are, that’s for sure.”

Bacio is set to fly via Chicago, landing in Prestwick in Scotland on August 11 before travelling down to York. Ward said: “He will hang out there at the track until we are ready to go, but he will get a breeze between landing and the race.”

“It is quite a trip as we get him down to Chicago five hours away where they walk them out on to the tarmac and then he is packaged up – they put the sides on then the top and raise him up and slide them in on rollers. Like a FedEx package getting mailed anywhere in the world.

“He is going to travel with a pony – Redneck Ways or just ‘Red’ – from the yard which is an added expense but when they have a buddy, a gelding, they don’t seem to fret or lose any weight travelling.

“Bacio is pretty easy going but when you are on your own, it’s like us, it is a lot easier to travel with a friend and it’s the same for horses.”

Once the air miles are banked and he says his goodbyes to his travel buddy in the racecourse stables, it will be over to Bacio. Ward is hoping the colt will be happy enough flying solo up front over the final five furlongs.