GOLDEN PAL GETS SECOND BREEDERS’ CUP VICTORY WITH TURF SPRINT VICTORY

BY BROCK SHERIDAN

DEL MAR, CA – Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg’s Golden Pal became the first Florida-bred to win two Breeders’ Cup races while also becoming the 177th Floridabred millionaire after winning the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (Grade 1) for 3-year-olds and older at five furlongs on the turf at Del Mar Nov. 6.

Golden Pal, winner of last year’s Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) at Keeneland, becomes the fifth horse to win two different Breeders’ Cup races, joining Zenyatta (Classic and Distaff), Beholder (Juvenile Fillies, Distaff), Stephanie’s Kitten (Juvenile Fillies Turf and Filly & Mare Turf) and Secret Circle (Juvenile Sprint and Sprint).

Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Golden Pal burst from post three in the five furlong turf event and immediately had daylight on the 12-horse field. Recent Green Flash (G3) and Eddie D. (G2)-winner Lieutenant Dan gave chase in second while a length faster than Caravel in third as Golden Pal flashed through the first quarter-mile in a quick :22.25 and the half-mile in :43.91, while extending his lead to a length-anda-half ahead of Lieutenant Dan as they turned for home.

But the race was never in doubt in the stretch as Golden Pal finished a length-and-a-quarter in front of Lieutenant Dan in second with Charmaine’s Mia closing to get third with Emaraaty Ana (GB) another neck farther back in fourth.

They were followed in order by A Case of You (Ire), Gear Jockey, Kimari, Glass Slippers (GB), Florida-bred Extravagant Kid, Chaos Theory, Fast Boat and Caravel.

Golden Pal finished the five furlongs on the firm turf in :55.22, just .47 off the course record of :54.75 set by Fast Parade set in 2006.

Golden Pal went off as the 5-2 favorite and paid $7 to win.

“I was happy to get the lead easily and he responded to me when I asked him for the run down the stretch,” Ortiz said. “I was confident coming for home and he still felt very strong. He was ready today.”

Trainer Wesley Ward has long said Golden Pal may be the best horse he has trained and reaffirmed that after the victory.

“He’s got the title—he’s the best horse [I’ve ever trained],” Ward said. “Bruce Headley, a great trainer, once told me when he had [2000 champion sprinter and 2000 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1)-winner] Kona Gold, ‘stay in there long enough and you’ll get one as good as this.’

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I hope everyone in horse racing has a horse like this, as special as he is. He’s just fast. He’s mature and he has so much upstairs, as well. He has so much natural ability. What a horse.”

Golden Pal now has five wins in eight starts and the $520,000 first place check in the Turf Sprint increases his earnings of $1,299,056 as he joins the list of 176 other Florida-bred millionaires. With Golden Pal, there have been 29 Florida-breds who have won a Breeders’ Cup event.

Golden Pal was unsuccessful in his first two career starts last year when second to fellow Florida-bred and future multiple stakes-placed Gatsby in a four-and-a-half furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream in April before going to Great Britain to take on stakes company and finish second to future multiple group stakes-winner The Lir Jet (Ire) in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot going a straight five furlongs.

He then won the $85,000 Skidmore at Saratoga before winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

He began 2021 with a three-length romp in the Grade 3 Quick Call going five-and-a-half furlongs on the turf before returning to Europe, only to disappoint with a seventh-place finish behind winner Winter Power (Ire) in the Group 1 Wooten Bassett Nunthorpe going five furlongs on the turf at York.

“I have no idea what happened in York,” Ward said at Del Mar in the days leading up to the Breeders’ Cup this year. “No excuses.”

But Golden Pal rebounded with an impressive victory in the Grade 2 Woodford at Keeneland on Oct. 9 before shipping to Del Mar for the Turf Sprint.

Golden Pal is by Uncle Mo out of Lady Shipman, by Midshipman and was bred in Florida by Randall E. Lowe. Lady Shipman was a graded-stakes winner on the track and has one other foal, Lieutenant General, a weanling by Omaha Beach.

The victory is the second of the weekend for Ward and Ortiz, who teamed up to win Friday’s Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) with Twilight Gleaming (Ire).

It is the sixth Breeders’ Cup victory for Ward and 13th for Ortiz but first for both in the Turf Sprint.

Trainer Steven Miyadi said of Lieutenant Dan’s runner-up performance: “He ran great, probably the best race of his life. He just wasn’t ready to run against a rocket ship.”

Firenze Fire made a record fifth start in the Breeders’ Cup with his eighth-place finish in the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at six furlongs. The 6-year-old son of Poseidon’s Warrior out of My Every Wish by Langfuhr was making the final start of his career before going to stand at Arrow Stud in Japan. Firenze Fire earned $20,000 in the Sprint to boost his lifetime earnings to $2,730,350 for owner and breeder Ron Lombardi’s Mr. Amore Stable of Mountain Lakes, N.J. He finished his career with 14 wins, seven seconds and three thirds and ranked 20th on the list of all-time leading Florida-bred money earners. Trained by Kelly Breen, Firenze Fire joins Better Talk Now, California Flag, Channel Marker, Kona Gold, Obviously (Ire) and Perfect Drift as the only horses with five appearances in the Breeders’ Cup… C Z Rocket finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for owners Altamira Racing Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, Gary Barber and Tom Kagele. He increased his career earnings to $1,511,641 to rank 51st all-time on the Florida-bred money list. C Z Rocket is by City Zip out of Successful Sarah, by Successful Appeal and is trained by Peter Miller. He was bred in Florida by Vincent Perez in the name of the Farm III Enterprises of Morriston, Fla… Extravagant Kid earned $10,000 for his ninth-place finish to increase his career bankroll to $1,684,733 which ranks him at 35th on the all-time list of Florida-bred money earners. Bred in Florida by Frank Vicino of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in the name of his Vicino Racing Stable, Extravagant Kid is by Kiss the Kid out of Pretty Extravagant, by With Distinction and is trained by Brendan Walsh for DARRS Inc… With Medina Spirit’s second-place finish in the $6 million Breeders Cup Classic to Knicks Go, the Bob Baffert trainee increased his career revenues by $1,020,000

to $3,545,200 and eighth on the list of all-time Florida-bred money earners. Medina Spirit was bred in Florida by Gail Rice and now races for Amr Zedan’s Zedan Racing Stables Inc. He is by Protonico out of Mongolian Changa, by Brilliant Speed… A homebred for George and Karen Russell’s Rustlewood Farm, TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) second-place finisher Pappacap earned $340,000 to increase his career earnings to $576,000 from two wins and two seconds from five starts. ■

PHOTO CREDITS Page 20: Golden Pal ■ Carolyn Simancik / Eclipse Sportswire Breeders’ Cup Page 21: Gate ■ Matt Wooley / Eclipse Sportswire Breeders’ Cup Page 22: Top ■ Carolyn Simancik / Eclipse Sportswire Breeders’ Cup Page 22: In the Stretch ■ Wendy Wooley / Eclipse Sportswire Breeders’ Cup Page 23: Wesley Ward & Irad Ortiz, Jr. ■ Bill Denver / Eclipse Sportswire Breeders’ Cup