Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Golden Pal tops wide-open field
DEL MAR, Calif. – Wesley Ward has trained four Breeders’ Cup winners, has won Group 1 races in England and France. Dozens of exceedingly fast, vastly talented horses have passed through his barn, and so it was surprising when Ward, during spring 2021 and almost in passing, said Golden Pal could turn out to be the best horse he’s handled.
He’s not there yet. Unbeaten in his four American grass races, Golden Pal captured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in 2020 yet has never won a Group 1 or Grade 1. To validate Ward’s assessment of his raw ability, Golden Pal should win the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Saturday.
As you’d expect in one of the world’s richest five-furlong dashes, speed abounds in the Turf Sprint, but give Golden Pal his head after he breaks and he’s probably the quickest of the quick.
That didn’t happen Oct. 9 in the Woodford Stakes at Keeneland, which Ward couldn’t attend. John Velazquez was riding Golden Pal for the first time.
“I have never given Johnny V instructions in 25 years of riding him,” Ward said. “I let him ride his race. First weekend of meet, I was knocked out with COVID, didn’t attend the races. Julio Garcia that works all the horses for me, he told Johnny you can break and put your hands down – which is not the way Johnny rides – and if a horse goes by him, he’ll come back.”
Yep – Firecrow headed Golden Pal at the three-sixteenths pole, but Golden Pal was having none of it, coming back, kicking clear, drawing away, and getting home by more than two lengths. The performance yielded a modest Beyer Speed Figure, 93. Golden Pal’s top number is 96, graded-stakes caliber, sure, but far from all-time-great caliber.
Irad Ortiz Jr. is back in the saddle again Saturday, but even he wanted to ration Golden Pal’s speed winning the 2020 Juvenile Turf Sprint, pulling hard on his head in the early stages of the race, trying to conserve energy. Maybe Golden Pal would shine brightest just being allowed to rip along as he pleases, but another consideration arises: Del Mar’s grass course swallowed inside speed horses during the summer meet.
And it’s not like the Turf Sprint lacks alternatives. A dozen made the field’s main body and six more wait on the also-eligible list. Ward, in fact, runs two others, 3-yearold Arrest Me Red and 4-yearold filly Kimari. Arrest Me Red went wire to wire in the Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational
on Oct. 1, earning a 100 Beyer, but faces flintier foes Saturday. Ward did say the colt acted up in the paddock and during warm-ups that day, a suggestion he could do better with improved behavior.
Kimari holds more appeal if Golden Pal isn’t your Ward of choice. Kimari produced strong 2-year-old form in 2019, getting going slightly too late in the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint, won by the Ward-trained Four Wheel Drive. Kimari covered her final furlong in an incredible 10.19 seconds, fastest in the field by nearly a half-second. At 3, she ran second in the Group 1 Commonwealth over a straight six furlongs at Royal Ascot, and
this past April she beat a highclass field in the Grade 1 Madison over seven furlongs on dirt. That marked Kimari’s most recent race, and owing to the long layoff, Ward abandoned plans to run her in the Filly and Mare Sprint and has trained Kimari for the Turf Sprint. Joel Rosario rides and might be the best jockey in North America looping a field with a powerful closer.
The other American runners are Lieutenant Dan, Charmaine’s Mia, Caravel, Gear Jockey, Fast Boat, and Extravagant Kid, all of whom have had their moments this year.
Lieutenant Dan returned from a year-plus layoff to go 2 for 2 turf-sprinting at Del Mar over the summer, winning the Green Flash Stakes with a 100 Beyer and the Eddie D with a 99. The speed figures rate him as a contender, but the water gets much deeper Saturday.
Charmaine’s Mia, another Californian, has a wealth of speed but in two recent starts hasn’t approached the peak she hit over the winter and early spring. Caravel, another filly, has potential excuses for her last two races, both below form, but even at her best would struggle to stick with the top contenders. Extravagant Kid landed the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in March, then ran third in the Group 1 King’s Stand at Royal Ascot in June. Golden Pal thumped him last month at Keeneland.
Gear Jockey and Fast Boat have recently traded stakes decisions, with Fast Boat winning the Troy at Saratoga, where Gear Jockey finished third after a slow start. Gear Jockey won the Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs, where Fast Boat endured a difficult trip and ran fourth.
“Last race was the worstcase scenario with him stuck down inside,” said Fast Boat’s trainer, Joe Sharp. “He was very unlucky.”
Sharp long thought Fast Boat was best suited to 5 1/2- or sixfurlong races, but he’s got two wins (one with a 104 Beyer) and a second in his last three fivefurlong tests.
“I think he could be brilliant at this five furlongs,” Sharp said.
Gear Jockey, third in the 2019 BC Juvenile Turf, was transformed this year cutting back from routes to sprints and did everything right winning at Kentucky Downs. But the Turf Sprint there is contested at six furlongs at a course that plays even longer, and Gear Jockey might not be quite quick enough for this.
“He’s doing really well,” said trainer Rusty Arnold, who has kept Gear Jockey fresh since he last raced Sept. 11. “I wish it were a little farther, but he’s real sharp right now.”
Among three European runners is Glass Slippers, who last year became the first overseas BC Turf Sprint winner when she made the most of a perfect inside closing trip to win going 5 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland. Third in her three starts this season, Glass Slippers long has been aimed at this race by trainer Kevin Ryan, who said testing going at Longchamp blunted his mare’s performance when she was beaten last out in the Prix de l’Abbaye.
“The ground was just too heavy for her – she couldn’t get hold of it,” Ryan said. “She’s in the same kind of form as last year and leaves everything out there every time she runs.”
Ryan has a second starter in Emaraaty Ana, a late-blooming 5-year-old gelding. Emaraaty Ana’s best two races came in his most recent starts, a second in the Nunthorpe at York and a win in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock, following a tactical change allowing him to show more speed. Both races came on a straight course, but Ryan said the gelding will handle Del Mar’s turn.
“He works around a bend at home every morning,” Ryan said. “He’s very well balanced but wants ground as fast as you can find it.”
A Case of You makes his first U.S. start in the Turf Sprint. He raced head and head with Glass Slippers a furlong from the finish of the Abbaye, but found a gear late that no one else in the race could match, getting up to win by a head. The 3-yearold A Case of You will be trainer Ado McGuinness’s first North American runner. He has come on strong since turning back to short sprints his last two starts.
“He’s gotten faster and faster since we cut him back,” McGuinness said. “I feel confident he’ll be comfortable around a bend, and he’s a great traveler. All he does is eat and sleep.”
You won’t nod off during the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. The race won’t last one minute, with a dozen of the fastest Thoroughbreds in the world busting it for a million bucks.