Golden Pal shows brilliant speed in Juvenile Turf Sprint
Golden Pal, who may wind up as biggest favorite in the entire Breeders' Cup, made many bettors happy by delivering as the 4-5 choice in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint to kick off the 2020 event at Keeneland.
Wesley Ward's 2-year-old son of Uncle Mo out of the brilliant Dam Lady Shipman broke like a rocket out of the gate and seized control of the early lead.
He went 44.63 seconds for the opening half, but it was not all fun and games for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. as Golden Pal fought him and steadied for a brief moment as Ortiz attempted to slow him down. He briefly lost the lead as Bodenheimer rushed up but regained the lead with quick acceleration and never looked back, winning by a final margin of three-quarters of a length.
"Sometimes when he's way in front he tends to wait for the other horses, owner Randy Lowe said after the race. "Maybe he was doing that, I don't know. I know, if another horse comes up next to him, he will rebreak and he will just draw away again."
Steve Asmussen's Cowan, sent off at 11-1, ran a remarkable race to finish second. He broke slowly but calmly picked off runners one by one to get into contention. He closed relentlessly under Ricardo Santana Jr., but there was no catching the loose frontrunner.
Cowan held off European shipper Ubettabelieveit, who also closed nicely on the inside. Finishing 1 3/4 lengths off the lead, Ubettabelieveit, at 26-1 added value to a 50-cent trifecta that paid $146.20.
Golden Pal paid $3.60 to win and completed the 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:02.82.
Golden Pal has thrived since losing his debut on the dirt. He was a narrow second in the Norfolk Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot in his turf debut and was ultra impressive in victory in the Skidmore.
Ward said after the race that Golden Pal will be back at Royal Ascot, where the trainer has had 11 victories in the past decade.
"He’s a champion colt, Ward said. "Thank God (Randy Lowe) gave him to me to train. I really appreciate it. (Next year’s Breeders’ Cup) is where we’re heading, but first we’re going to Royal Ascot. Here we come. He’s going to get them this year!”