'I really look forward to what he's going to be as a stallion'

Trainer Wesley Ward was pretty excited about Golden Pal's chances for a repeat victory in November in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint even before his romping victory in the $315,175 Woodford Stakes Presented by FanDuel at Keeneland.

"We couldn't be more excited," Ward said after watching the four-year-old Uncle Mo colt toy with eight rivals through the 5 1/2 furlongs before winning by a length and a half length in a stakes-record time of 1:01.39 on firm turf.

Golden Pal shot right to the front as the field left the starting gate and showed the way for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. through fractions of :21.25, :43.42. It did not appear Ortiz was even asking for his best as Golden Pal scored his eighth win from 12 starts.

"He's just a fast horse," Ortiz said.

Oceanic and Artemus Citylimits, fast horses in their own right, finished second and third with Bad Beat Brian and Gear Jockey in a dead heat for fourth.

The victory, Ward said, sets Golden Pal up perfectly for a defence of the title he won 11 months ago and half a continent away at Del Mar. The Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint will be run at Keeneland, where Golden Pal is stabled and has trained most of his life.

"Every time he runs, I get nervous because the expectations are so high," Ward said after his stable star won the Woodford for the second straight year. "But 28 days from today, we'll be ready to roll."

"Of all the horses I've ever trained, he's the fastest," Ward added.

Ortiz, noting Golden Pal now is four-from-four on the Keeneland turf, including the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, said of the Breeders' Cup, "I love the fact that it's home for him."

Ward acknowledges the Breeders' Cup will be Golden Pal's final start. He races for the Coolmore-affiliated Westerberg Limited, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith, and the colt is likely off to stud next year.

"I really look forward to what he's going to be as a stallion," Ward said, although he has admitted he regrets that Golden Pal's resume lacks one achievement - a victory at Royal Ascot.

In June, Golden Pal and Ortiz lined up for the King's Stand Stakes at the Royal meeting in a field that included Nature Strip. Between them, the two would have garnered most of the popular votes for world's best turf sprinter.

Ward was left with a "what might have been" when the barriers were sprung before Ortiz was prepared. He spotted the field many lengths, moved up smartly mid-race but then was virtually eased when he couldn't overcome the bad break.

"It would have been something to see the two of them battle it out to the finish," said Ward, an American pioneer at the Ascot festivities.

A year earlier, Golden Pal finished second, beaten a neck by The Lir Jet in the Norfolk Stakes at the same meeting.

Golden Pal is out of the Midshipman mare Lady Shipman, a Graded stakes winner in her own right and runner-up in the 2015 TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint when the event was first held at Keeneland.

Golden Pal, bred in Florida by Randall Lowe, raced through his two-year-old season for his breeder after he went unsold when bidding stalled at $325,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.

Darley sire Territories was represented with Grade 1 success when last term's Prix de l'Opera winner Rougir defied being squeezed up quite significantly to land the E P Taylor Stakes at Woodbine. The four-year-old was a €3,000,000 sale from Sumbe to Oceanic Bloodstock at the Arqana December Sale last year.

In Italian, meanwhile, added a second Grade 1 win to her CV with victory in the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland. A 475,000gns purchase from Hazelwood Bloodstock at Book 1 by Mike Ryan, the daughter of Dubawi had stuck in the Diana Stakes earlier this season.

Later on the same card, Annapolis became a new top-flight scorer for War Front, seeing off a challenge that included Order Of Australia, Set Piece and Masen. A near two-length winner of the Coolmore Turf Mile Stakes, the three-year-old is a homebred of Bass Stables and is out of Unbridled Song's Grade 2 dirt winner and Kentucky Oaks second My Miss Sophia.

Perry Bass of Bass Racing, quoted by Bloodhorse, said: "We have our mares at Claiborne [Farm], and we love going out and seeing our babies and seeing them in the field. It adds a whole other dimension than if you just bought them as a yearling.

"I have pictures on my phone from like the day after he was born. It's just another layer to it that makes you proud."

At Santa Anita, Arrogate's son Cave Rock, who went through the ring as a foal ($210,000) and yearling ($550,000) at Keeneland, extended his unbeaten sequence to three with a commanding five-and-a-quarter-length success in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes.

The Bob Baffert-trained colt is certainly one of the most exciting two-year-olds on the planet, and British and Irish armchair fans could get the chance to see him in action at the Breeders' Cup next month in the Juvenile.

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