Golden Pal

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - Trainer Wesley Ward turned to football to explain why Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) has turned out to be what he has said is the best horse he has handled during his 32-year career. "Look at all the special running backs in history," Ward said. "What makes them so special? They are naturally blessed with talent is what it comes down to. They are extremely fast and a lot of them have the mind for it as well. He's got both." Nearly two months after a disappointing...

By B. Jason Brooks The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearling Sale is less than two weeks away and potential buyers are marking up their sales catalogs while researching the accomplished families of those being offered. At the 2019 Saratoga Sale, four yearlings tracing back to Phipps foundation mare Blitey sold for a collective $4.05 million, one of them being an undefeated Tapit colt named Flightline who has become a multiple Grade I superstar. Thoroughbred Daily News columnist and pedigree expert Sid Fernando recently noted in story that the Phipps female "families...

From State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) silencing his doubters once again to Irad Ortiz's week going from bad to worse, there was plenty to digest from day two at Royal Ascot. Brian Sheerin fleshed out the main talking points from another thrilling day's action.  Eldar Eldarov Owner Is Living The Dream  HH Shaikh Khalid, owner of Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), told ITV Racing that his dream in racing is to find a horse good enough to stand as a stallion. Eldar Eldarov could well be up to fulfilling...

And breathe. As starting dishes go, few have been tastier than what Ascot served up on day one of the royal meeting, with promise of more to come later in the week. From bargain buy Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) bolting up in the G2 Coventry S. to Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) disappointing in the G1 King's Stand S., there were a huge amount of talking points to emerge from day one. Brian Sheerin examined the big takeouts from a pulsating day's action.   Bradsell the Best Result Imaginable  You would...

Royal Ascot 2022 will kick off with the cream of the crop, as Shadwell's Baaeed (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) was confirmed Sunday for the meeting's opening G1 Queen Anne S.. William Haggas' unbeaten 4-year-old has six rivals to deal with as he looks to cement his place at the head of the World's Best Racehorse Rankings having got there with an emphatic return win from the re-opposing Real World (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the G1 Lockinge S. at Newbury May 14. It hasn't escaped anyone's attentions that he...

Heritage, as a substitute for internationally adequate prize money, is literally priceless to the nation that cradled the Thoroughbred. Nowhere is this more apparent than at Royal Ascot, where prestige and pageant will next week again draw not just global attention but also global participation. As a result, this most definitively English of occasions has in recent years become ever more cosmopolitan.

Heritage, as a substitute for internationally adequate prize money, is literally priceless to the nation that cradled the Thoroughbred. Nowhere is this more apparent than at Royal Ascot, where prestige and pageant will next week again draw not just global attention but also global participation. As a result, this most definitively English of occasions has in recent years become ever more cosmopolitan. It's a pretty precarious arrangement for British racing, in that the economic model harnessed to its cultural assets-namely, an export market for yearlings and horses-in-training-threatens ultimately to erode...

The well-established team of Wesley Ward and Irad Ortiz Jr. will joins forces for the upcoming Royal meeting, which begins June 14. Ward, who became the first American-based trainer to saddle a winner at the Royal Ascot in 2009, confirmed that Ortiz will partner all five of his contenders next week. A three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey in the U.S., the Puerto Rican native will be making is debut at the meet. "He's won all over in America and he's just a phenomenal rider who rides with extreme patience," explained Ward....

In winning her maiden by almost ten lengths on debut at Keeneland, Queen Mary favourite Love Reigns (Ire) (US Navy Flag) tore to shreds what many people thought possible for an unraced 2-year-old filly in the month of April. There would have been more competition had Real Madrid taken to the field against a bunch of schoolboys such was the authority of the display. Love Reigns burst into the lead from stall one, powered home to win unchallenged, and the clock backed up what filled the eye. Not even Golden...

Only Choisir (Aus) and Blue Point (Ire) have managed to win the King's Stand and the Platinum Jubilee in the same year but Eddie Lynam has opened the door to his Group 1-winning sprinter Romantic Proposal (Ire) (Raven's Pass) emulating those legendary speedsters at Royal Ascot next month and is eyeing an audacious tilt at the double. Romantic Proposal showed blistering speed in winning the G1 Flying Five S. at the Curragh last season and, despite treating the Listed Woodlands S. at Naas like a piece of work on her...

Wesley Ward worked five of his Royal Ascot contenders over the Keeneland turf Friday led by GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo). He covered five panels in a bullet 1:02.80 (1/8) (video). Winner of the GII Shakertown S. last out Apr. 9, the bay is being pointed at the G1 King's Stand S. at the Royal meeting June 14. "I thought he had an unbelievable breeze today," Ward said. "The turf was soggy, and I love to breeze on a deep, soft turf. They come in...

Since he won his first ever race at Royal Ascot in 2009, trainer Wesley Ward has attacked the meeting with quantity and quality and the result has been 12 wins. But he says this year's group, which will consist of at least seven horses, is the best he has ever sent overseas for what is the U.K.'s premier race meeting. "I have never been as strong as this," he said. The surprise is that Ward's group of 2-year-olds, usually his strong suit, is not deep. He only has two, 'TDN...