Golden Pal, Fauci give Ward one-two punch in Skidmore Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Only trainer Wesley Ward would enter a 2-year-old maiden in a Group 1 stakes in England and a listed black-type event at Saratoga scheduled for the same day.
Ward had talked for several weeks about running Golden Pal in the Nunthorpe Stakes, a race for 2-year-olds and up at York, but ultimately opted for the seemingly softer $85,000 Skidmore Stakes where his major nemesis, Fauci, comes from his own stable.
Golden Pal, a son of graded stakes winners Uncle Mo and Lady Shipman, will make his third attempt at winning his first race in the Skidmore, scheduled for 5 1/2 furlongs over the Mellon turf course.
Ward said he would have shipped Golden Pal to England for the Nunthorpe if he was assured of firm ground. But rain was forecast for midweek and Ward felt Golden Pal’s weapon, his speed, would be compromised on boggy ground.
Golden Pal should get firm turf Friday at Saratoga. However, Ward sees Golden Pal, drawn on the outside under Irad Ortiz Jr., sitting just off Fauci, who will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione from post 5.
“If Fauci breaks, I’d like to let him dictate the pace,” Ward said. “If Fauci kicks out there like he does and Irad follows him – hopefully he’s pricking his ears down the backside – when they turn for home may the best horse win.
Ward feels Golden Pal’s two losses were a result of “jockey error.” In his debut going 4 1/2 furlongs on dirt at Gulfstream Park in April, Golden Pal went his first quarter in 21.58 seconds and finished second to Gatsby. In the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, Ward felt jockey Andrea Atzeni asked too much too early of Golden Pal when he was beaten a neck by The Lir Jet.
“I told the jock don’t move until you see the whites of their eyes,” Ward said.
Fauci was beaten 4 3/4 lengths by Prisoner when both debuted in a five-furlong maiden dirt race at Belmont on June 3. Fauci came back to win a 5 1/2-furlong maiden turf race at Keeneland on July 9, a race that has produced two next-out winners.
“Fauci is very good and he showed it,” Ward said. “I’d be talking him like he’s the second coming of Jesus if I didn’t train this other horse.”
Ward’s third runner in the Skidmore is the filly Sunny Isle Beach, a debut winner on dirt at Churchill Downs on June 6. Ward said his strategy with Sunny Isle Beach is to let her sit well off the pace and come with a run under Javier Castellano.
Sky’s Not Falling, a gelding by the German-bred stallion Seville, makes his turf debut in the Skidmore for trainer Michael Trombetta. Sky’s Not Falling won a five-furlong dirt race at Delaware on July 1 and finished third in a restricted stakes on dirt at Colonial Downs on July 28.
Baytown Bear, a maiden winner at Indiana Grand, and Kentucky Knight, a first-time starter, complete the field.
The Skidmore is scheduled as race 3 on a nine-race card that begins at 1:10 p.m.