Ward: Lady Aurelia Could Run 'Best Ever Race'

Trainer Wesley Ward believes his unbeaten juvenile filly Lady Aurelia just might run of the best race of her young career in the Connolly's Red Mills Cheveley Park Stakes (Eng-I) Sept. 24 at Newmarket.

The Kentucky-bred daughter of Scat Daddy, owned by her breeder Stonestreet Stables along with George Bolton, and Peter Leidel, is domiciled at The National Stud in Newmarket for her European campaign, and United States-based Ward has been getting daily progress reports from jockey Frankie Dettori, who rode her to victory at Royal Ascot and at Deauville in France.

Perfect in all three of her starts, Lady Aurelia scored a blowout seven-length triumph in the Queen Mary Stakes (Eng-II) in June at the Royal meet after her impressive 7 1/2-length unveiling April 21 at Keeneland, and again with Dettori, kept her unbeaten record intact in the Prix Morny (Fr-I) Aug. 21 at Deauville.

The bay filly posted a Sept. 17 workout at Newmarket, bolstering Ward's confidence ahead Saturday's race. 

"Lady Aurelia worked great on the Rowley Mile (Saturday) and is ready to run her best ever race," said Ward. "I have a lot to thank my 'assistant trainer' Frankie Dettori for! He's the only person to have ridden her since she came over from France after the Prix Morny, and I'm really excited to have such interaction race-to-race from the world's greatest jockey.

"When I wake up every morning there's a video bulletin from Frankie waiting for me, telling me how things are going—it's as if I was there. And he's been telling me that we are really going to see something from her this time.

"Lady Aurelia was at a disadvantage at Ascot and in the Morny as she was taking on the home team. Now, mainly thanks to Brian O'Rourke who has graciously allowed her to lodge at The National Stud, I feel that we are more of the home team than they are.

"I gave her a month off after Ascot; before the Morny she just had four easy breezes, so in hindsight maybe she was not as cranked up for that as she might have been. And, when you study the Deauville video, you can see that she steps in a hole at the furlong marker—there's a cloud of dust around all four of her feet."

Lady Aurelia could face up to nine rivals in the Cheveley Park Stakes, including Jaber Abdullah's Frankel filly Queen Kindly, winner of last month's Lowther Stakes (Eng-II) at York for trainer Richard Fahey, as well as Aidan O'Brien-trained Brave Anna and Roly Poly, both Kentucky-bred daughters of Claiborne Farm sire War Front  , North America's current leading sire of 2-year-olds (Scat Daddy is second on the list).

Evie Stockwell's Brave Anna won the Albany Stakes (Eng-III) at Royal Ascot but has been disappointing since, while Coolmore and partners' Roly Poly won the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes July 8 at Newmarket before her close second to Queen Kindly in the Aug. 18 Lowther.