SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Before the conversation started, coach Wesley Ward brought his guests to Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) of the stall on Saturday morning and pointed to the 4-year-old lying sprawled on the floor covered with wood chips.
Ward chuckled.
“Every day at this point, he takes a nap,” Ward said.
About 10 hours after the two-time Breeders’ trophy winner won the GIII Troy S. at Saratoga Racecourse, taking his first start after a rare collision at G1 King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot in June, Golden Pal looks like a content dog resting in front of a fireplace. A few minutes later, he got up to check what was going on in the warehouse.
“Mentally, it’s a very intelligent horse,” Ward said. “People think you’re crazy, that it’s like, ‘a horse is a horse.’ You see that he is standing in front of the stall. That is not the case in Ascot. He was at the back of the stall and when he flew home and was in his own stall in his own house, he was at the back of the stall, sulking type. It will take a while for him to come out.”
Golden Pal didn’t need any cheers after running his record in Saratoga to three to three, all with the money.
“He knew he won,” Ward said.
The 5 1/2 Troy record is the first of Golden Pal’s seven career wins in 11 starts where he doesn’t lead at every call. Golden Pal didn’t leave the gate in a rush as usual, but the race scenario played out exactly as Ward had hoped. Under the guidance of Irad Ortiz, Jr Golden Pal stalked and pounced, using the head of Pacesetter True Valor (Ire) (Kodiac (GB))).
Ward prepared the Breeders’ Cup in training, thanks to his veteran gymnast Julio Garcia guiding him behind the horses in the wind. Before reaching Troy, Ward went one step further.
Ward said: “I spoke to Irad’s agent, Steve Rushing. “I said, ‘A lot of riders ride my horse, and they go, because they see me, think about speed and they go.” And Irad, the reason I started riding him was him. going to break and do like he did yesterday.He’s been getting a bit of a pace with some of my horses lately and I said to Steve, ‘Look, especially with this horse, slow down a bit, because I’m going to lead the race anyway.’ I said, not just him but the others, but this one in particular.’”
Ward has called Golden Pal the best horse he has ever trained and says the pony’s speed is his greatest asset.
“If he contains it, that makes him a better horse,” Ward said. “Because if you’re totally the front horse, you’re a victim of speed.”
Golden Pal is scheduled to leave Saratoga on Sunday for Ward’s base of operations at Keeneland. The tentative plan is to get him off the field, where he has found so much success, and run in the GII Phoenix S. on October 8 in Keeneland. It is used to show the breeder that he is efficient on grass and dirt. He will go on to attempt a second straight win in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on November 5 in Keeneland, which is expected to be the finale of his career.
However, if all goes well, Ward says that the Coolmore organization that owns the foal could run him in Australia to expose breeders in the Southern Hemisphere.
Ward was pleased when Golden Pal showed that he had learned his lessons well in Troy. Despite being used to having Golden Pal take the lead in his races, he says he’s always been confident that Lady Shipman’s son (Shipman) will capture the leader.
“I was. It was a nail-biting horse, but to me, I know the greatness of this horse,” he said. “Nothing was lost from the horse he beat because he ran. a really good race, but I knew when they hit that final stretch that greatness would come out of him, and it happened.”
