MASTER OF NUN
Ward expects Golden Pal to be punters’ friend at York
WESLEY WARD yesterday threw down the gauntlet to Golden Pal’s Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes rivals, declaring: “When they say ‘Go!’, he’ll be gone!”
Next Friday’s head-to-head between Golden Pal and French-trained filly Suesa is the highlight of York’s four-day Welcome To Yorkshire Ebor Festival.
The bookies favour Suesa, emphatic winner of Glorious Goodwood’s King George Stakes last month, who heads the ante-post market for the fivefurlong Group 1 test at 2-1.
But Ward (above) is brimming with confidence in Frankie Dettori’s mount Golden Pal, who arrived at York after a trans-atlantic flight on Friday.
“I’ve had some real fast horses in my career but this guy’s just got that magic
X factor to him. He’s a ‘wow’!”, purred Ward, whose son of Uncle Mo was runner-up to The Lir Jet in the Royal Ascot Norfolk Stakes last year before lifting the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland.
“I said he’s the best I ever had. He hasn’t accomplished that yet, but that’s what I’ve always felt.
“He moves so quick, like a cat, and he’s very agile on his feet.”
Golden Pal’s Royal Ascot second came on the back of a debut reverse at Gulfstream in April last year, but Ward added: “He should be undefeated. He had a couple of rides when he was young and inexperienced – the riders didn’t do anything that terrible, but if you’re a racing car driver you step on
the gas and think, ‘Whoa! What did I just do?’.
“Now the riders know him and they can harness
that speed.
“He knows what he’s there for and he’s blossoming as time goes on – the more that time goes on, you can really see how special he is.”
Golden Pal was having his first outing since the Breeders’ Cup when scorching to a three-length supremacy at Saratoga last month.
“His comeback race there was an eye-opener,” gushed the American.
“I was very confident going into the race, although he’d only had three pieces of fast work.
“I knew this horse, fitness-wise, might be a little short, but I knew that, ability-wise, he would tower over them.
“He didn’t get away from there as quick as he has in the past but, now he’s got that one start underneath him, when they say, ‘Go!’, he’ll be gone!”
BILL GREDLEY has moved his horses from son-in-law George Scott’s yard “for private reasons”.
The pair enjoyed their highest-profile success together when James Garfield captured the Group 2 Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury in September 2018.