Florida-bred Golden Pal shines in Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint

Irad Ortiz Jr. celebrates after riding Golden Pal to victory. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Irad Ortiz Jr. celebrates after riding Golden Pal to victory during the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint race at the Del Mar racetrack in Del Mar, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Florida-breds flexed their muscles in the 38^th Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Nov. 5-6, highlighted by Golden Pal’s impressive gate-to-wire victory in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) last Saturday.

The eye-catching win—the 30^th for a Florida-bred in the history of the Breeders’ Cup—also marked the second consecutive Breeders’ Cup score for Golden Pal who captured last year’s Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) at Keeneland. With the milestone win this year, he joins just five other horses in history—Zenyatta, Beholder, Stephanie’s Kitten, Secret Circle, and Knicks Go (this year’s Classic winner)—to win two different Breeders’ Cup races.

In addition to Golden Pal’s triumph on the world stage, Florida-bred Medina Spirit, winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby (G1), finished second to Knicks Go in the event’s marquee event, the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and Sunshine State product Pappacap was a determined runner-up to Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company graduate Corniche in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) last Friday.

Golden Pal proved a dominant winner of the Turf Sprint. Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by Wesley Ward, Golden Pal rocketed to the lead away from the starting gate in the five-furlong turf race. He was never seriously challenged and powered home in the stretch to score by 1 ¼ lengths in the fast time of :55.22 for owners Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg.

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

Bred by Randall Lowe, Golden Pal is a 3-year-old colt by Uncle Mo out of Lowe’s exceptional, multiple graded stakes-winning mare, Lady Shipman, by Midshipman. The $520,000 winner’s share of the lucrative purse made Golden Pal Florida’s newest millionaire, increasing his career bankroll to $1,200,056. His record now stands at 8-5-2-0.

“He’s got the title—he’s the best horse (I’ve ever trained),” said trainer Wesley Ward. “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.

“He’s very quick and very agile, as you’ve seen today, and my only concern with the race today was the first jump,” Ward continued. “I knew if he broke with them that his quickness and his agility would just bounce him out like he did. And not only did he break with them, he [also] broke in front of them. Then, Irad, I think he was a little bit surprised the first few strides how he just kind of opened up like he did on such fast horses. So, I was very happy with the first few strides.”

In the Classic, Medina Spirit, bred by Gail Rice and ridden in the race by John Velazquez, offered game chase but was second-best on the day to Knicks Go who led from start to finish in the 1 ¼-mile fixture and all but wrapped up Horse of the Year honors with his victory.

“I’m very proud of him,” said trainer Bob Baffert of the runner-up who is owned by Zedan Racing Stables and was sold twice through the ring at OBS auctions. “He ran a great race. The winner was just too much.”

Velazquez added, “I broke slow and by the wire the first time, I had to take a little hold of him. I gave him his head around the first turn, and around the second turn, he came running and kept running.”

In adding the second-place purse money of $1,020,000 to his coffers, Medina Spirit now boasts lifetime earnings of $3,545,200 to rank eighth on the list of all-time leading Florida-bred earners.

The Juvenile, while not won by a Florida-bred, saw the $1.5 million OBS Spring Sale topper Corniche streak to victory over Florida-bred Pappacap. Corniche, who was sold at OBS by De Meric Sales, took command early in the $2 million race and rolled to a 1 ¾-length win over a determined Pappacap and jockey Joe Bravo who produced a sustained bid to finish a game second for owner-breeder Rustlewood Farm.

“I’m just so proud of my big colt,” Bravo said of Pappacap’s effort. “He did everything great today.”

As for Hall of Fame trainer and Ocala horseman Mark Casse, he is anticipating a positive future for the precocious colt by Gun Runner out of the Scat Daddy mare Pappascat.

“You know what—he’s a good horse and he’s getting better,” Casse said of Pappacap. “Now, we have to figure out how to get him to the Kentucky Derby. He’ll love the mile and a quarter (distance).”

Rounding out the Florida-bred contingent at this year’s Breeders’ Cup were C Z Rocket (7^th in the Sprint), Firenze Fire (8^th in the Sprint), and Extravagant Kid (9^th in Turf Sprint).