Lady Aurelia blooming ahead of return with Royal Ascot on the horizon

Trainer Wesley Ward has his eyes firmly fixed on a third successful raid on Royal Ascot with superstar sprinter Lady Aurelia and has warned her potential rivals that she is bigger and better than ever.

Owned by Stonestreet Farm and Peter Leidel, Lady Aurelia followed up her Queen Mary blitz of two years ago with an outstanding victory in last season’s King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The four-year-old is set to start for the first time this year at Keeneland next weekend, and completed her first grass workout of the year at Keeneland on Friday alongside last year's Sandringham Stakes winner Con Te Partiro.

Of the workout, Ward said: "Great. Super. She did everything we wanted. It looks like she’s fresh and ready to go."

Lady Aurelia will follow the same path to Royal Ascot as last year by lining up in the Listed Giant's Causeway Stakes on Saturday, before contesting the Group 1 King's Stand Stakes, for which she is the 4-1 joint-favourite with Battaash.

"We're going right back in the same race if all's in good order," Ward said. "As far as everything I see, she's bigger and stronger than she's ever been."

Among those likely to join Lady Aurelia in Europe this summer is Bound For Nowhere, who landed the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes on turf on Saturday.

Bound For Nowhere was fourth in the Commonwealth Cup last year, and Ward added: “He’s a wonderful colt. I’m blessed to have him. I’m so happy everything is coming together. Hopefully, we have a big year.

“We’ll go back to England if he comes out of this good and sound, and hopefully get lucky.”

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