Golden Pal leads U.S. contingent in Royal Ascot nominations

Sixteen U.S. horses are among nominations for the eight Group 1 races at Royal Ascot, to be run June 14-18.

Wesley Ward's customary contingent will be led by Golden Pal in the King’s Stand Stakes.

Golden Pal had several European raiders behind him when dominating from the front in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November, and the 4-year-old made a sparkling comeback in the Shakertown Stakes (G2) at Keeneland on April 9, bolting up by almost five lengths.

Ward said: “Golden Pal is doing great, he really is. I have been singing this horse’s praises for a couple of years now, and the only thing he hasn’t done yet is win on your patch. Hopefully, he can get it done.

“It was a powerful performance from him in the Shakertown. But it was a comeback, and I really think his next run is going to be something special. He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse – certainly the best I have ever had – and I think he will stamp that with his performance at Ascot if he runs like I am expecting him to.

“Physically, he is an awesome specimen now, and mentally he is really coming into his own. I am just so excited to get him back over there.”

Since a near miss at the Royal Ascot meeting as a 2-year-old, Golden Pal's only loss came in last season’s Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes at York, when he finished seventh behind Winter Power, much to his trainer’s bemusement.

Ward explained: “I am looking at a couple of things from his run at York. Firstly, he ran a big race at Churchill Downs on his comeback last year and that was five weeks beforehand. I know five weeks is a nice gap for you guys but, for me, a longer spacing with sprinters works better. If I come back too quick, it usually stings me as a trainer. A lot of trainers are able to do it, but my whole career I have never been able to do something like that.

“The other point is that when Frankie (Dettori) rode him, he did not want to go too fast early. He took a pretty good hold of him in the first part of the race and, although endoscopically there were no abnormalities after, maybe something got a bit displaced and shut his airways down a little bit. A veterinarian would disagree with me, but I am searching for an answer for that race because he went into it really good. Those are the two reasons I think that he did not fire but, other than that, he has fired every start of his life.”

Platinum Jubilee Stakes contender Campanelle will bid to join a select group of horses who have won three different Royal Ascot races in successive years. The 4-year-old captured the G2 Queen Mary Stakes in 2020 and last year was second past the post in the G1 Commonwealth Cup before the placings were reversed because interference.

Ward said: “Barbara Banke (owner) and her team are so excited to get Campanelle back over there. She had a strong performance on her comeback win at Keeneland the other day. If you watch that race against some of the fastest fillies in the country, what she did was pretty impressive.

“Between her and Golden Pal, I think we are going in with some big chances. They are running in races that I have won before and I really feel this pair are coming into their respective races as good, if not better, than my previous winners.”

Of Ward’s 12 Royal Ascot winners to date, eight have come in 2-year-old races, and the trainer hopes to bring another strong team of juveniles this year.

“We have our first grass maidens 2 two-year-olds in the U.S. at Keeneland this week," he said. "Then there are maidens at Churchill Downs and Belmont Park as well. I will have runners across those races and how they get on will determine who travels.”

Ward isset to be joined by fellow regular Graham Motion at Royal Ascot (Spendarella, Coronation Stakes & Sy Dog, St James’s Palace Stakes) along with Brad Cox (Caravel, King’s Stand Stakes and Commonwealth Cup options) and Christophe Clement, who is responsible for last year’s star filly, Pizza Bianca, entered for the Coronation Stakes, owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Pizza Bianca won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf in great style, and that race is working out particularly well. Clement also has Slipstream, Derrynane and Big Invasion entered for the Commonwealth Cup.

Clement said: “All options are open for Pizza Bianca after her second at Aqueduct last weekend. I am yet to have a discussion with the owner and suspect we will make a decision in the next two or three weeks.

“I thought she ran a good race at Aqueduct, although it was a shame she got beaten. The race was a little bit against us, but the filly who won (Consumer Spending) is a very nice filly. They both finished the race very willingly, and our filly has come out of it in great shape.

“We have a great program here now for 3-year-old fillies on the grass, in particular the New York Triple Crown. I am very happy to keep her here for that but if the owner wants to go to Ascot, then I am very happy to do that as well if we think she will be competitive.

“There is another stakes race in four weeks at Pimlico that she could go for and then from there you can go to Ascot. The filly will tell us what she wants to do but at the moment all options are wide open.

“Slipstream is very much on course for the Commonwealth Cup. He won a stakes race impressively at Keeneland in April, and I don’t think I will run him back before Ascot.

“This horse has a very good mind and goes on any ground. He is very mature as well having been a good 2-year-old last year. I think he is a good horse.

“I have also nominated a very fast filly called Derrynane. She is top-class but needs the ground on the firmer side. Similarly with Pizza Bianca, there is a stakes race for her here in late May and we may go there before deciding about the Commonwealth Cup.

“Both Slipstream and Derrynane have been competing with Wesley Ward horses who will be coming to Royal Ascot, so the form is very good, and any time they have been beaten, there have been excuses.”

Four Royal Ascot contests are part of the Breeders’ Cup win-and-you're-in program – the King’s Stand Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Norfolk Stakes.