Royal Ascot: Ward sends seven juveniles plus Bound for Nowhere; Imprimis gets Dettori

Americans will be well represented in next week’s sprint features at Royal Ascot. Trainer Wesley Ward’s team includes seven promising two-year-olds and veteran Bound for Nowhere, who was nabbed last out by Imprimis, also Ascot-bound for Joe Orseno. The older sprinters are not expected to renew rivalry across the pond, with each circling different targets. Imprimis is aiming for the five-furlong King’s Stand (G1) on opening day, June 18, while Bound for Nowhere is set for another tilt in the six-furlong Diamond Jubilee (G1) on closing day, June 22. Orseno is right to stick to the shorter trip for Imprimis, who’s so effective around a turning five furlongs or so stateside. His only attempt at six furlongs, in last summer’s Highlander (G1) at Woodbine, was inconclusive, since he was shut off on the rail in the stretch and wound up sixth. Since it’s uncertain how he’d handle a stiffer six down the Ascot straight in the Diamond Jubilee, the King’s Stand is the more logical spot. Imprimis extended his career record to seven-for-nine in the April 6 Shakertown (G2) at Keeneland, despite taking a nosedive out of the gate. Racing farther off the pace as a result, the Broken Vow gelding nevertheless still ran down defending champion Bound for Nowhere by a neck.

That victory elevated Imprimis and enticed Frankie Dettori to take the Royal Ascot mount. As good as he’d looked winning minor stakes at Gulfstream Park, Pimlico, and Monmouth, beating an internationally competitive rival in a Keeneland Grade 2 gave him a rich piece of form. Considering how American sprinters have held their own on the world stage in recent years, he deserves his chance, and his ability to handle all types of ground is a plus. Bound for Nowhere, to be fair, was making his reappearance in the Shakertown, and Ward has said that he’ll come on a bundle in the Diamond Jubilee. “He should be ready to run the race of his life this year,” Ward told attheraces.com. Bound for Nowhere has run two creditable races in defeat in his prior course-and-distance attempts, so any degree of improvement makes him a serious threat. In 2017, he made an ambitious stakes debut in the Commonwealth Cup (G1), in just his third career start, and finished a clear fourth to Caravaggio, Harry Angel, and Blue Point. Last year, Bound for Nowhere knocked off the rust at Turfway before posting a new career high in the Shakertown. Unfortunately, his trip in the Diamond Jubilee left something to be desired, as he raced in isolation on the lead before hanging left to join the rest of the field. Still, he was beaten only three-quarters of a length by Aidan O’Brien’s Australian import Merchant Navy and France’s City Light.