Finnegan Could Get a 'Crack' at British Racing

Finnegan (Ire) (Unbridled's Song), the half-brother to Grade I winner Bodemeister (Empire Maker) who broke his maiden by five lengths on the Preakness undercard May 16, could take in the G2 Gimcrack S. Aug. 22. Owned by the Coolmore partners and Ice Wine Stables and trained by Wesley Ward, Finnegan was set to start in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot before an illness ruled him out of competition the morning of the race.

“Unfortunately, he just had a touch of colic and a few days after that, he had a spiked temperature,” Ward explained. “Otherwise, I think he would have been very tough to beat.”

The conditioner likened the flashy chestnut's ability to that of his G2 Queen Mary S. victress Acapulco (Scat Daddy).

“He is pretty close to Acapulco,” Ward said. “I know him inside and out–I was the first one on his back for the first couple of weeks of his training career. He was always at the top of my list of 2-year-olds that I had this year, and I was extremely confident going into the Coventry, a race I am dying to win.”