Royal Ascot return for Golden Pal after roaring to success in the Shakertown

Wesley Ward is relishing the chance to bring Golden Pal back to Royal Ascot after he blitzed his rivals to make a winning reappearance in the Grade 2 Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday.

A wide draw did not hinder Ward's speedball, who set brutal fractions under Irad Ortiz and seemingly never came out of first gear, beating Johnny Unleashed by four and three-quarter lengths as the 3-5 favourite.

"Golden Pal is just a special horse," said Ward, quoted by Bloodhorse.com.

"My assistant Julio Garcia is the one that's keeping him all together. Horses this fast can be a chore with injuries and Julio is a master with his hands.

"He gets him to relax in the morning and cruise around there and get him nice and fit, to where he's sound coming into this race."

Golden Pal has run twice on British shores, finishing a neck second to The Lir Jet in the 2020 Norfolk Stakes, a horse he defeated by six and a half lengths in the Shakertown. Most recently, he was a weak-finishing seventh in last year's Nunthorpe at York, and Ward is hoping to set the record straight in 2022.

He said: "I'm sure Golden Pal is going to come out of the race just as well as he came to it, just because of the condition of the grass. I'm looking forward to getting over to Ascot and showing what he can do over there."

Golden Pal was cut to a general 3-1 in the ante-post market for the King's Stand Stakes following his success and Ward believes he could be even better this year.

He added: "He's really grown into himself as a four-year-old, I'm really looking forward to the Breeders' Cup here this fall. It was very generous of Coolmore to leave a horse like this in training."

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