Golden Pal, no excuse for defeat, headed back home

Golden Pal, seventh as the favorite Aug. 20 in the Group 1 Nunthorpe at York, was set to return to the U.S. on Tuesday looking no worse for his defeat, trainer Wesley Ward said Monday.

Golden Pal set a strong pace in the five-furlong, straight-course Nunthorpe but had nothing for the final furlong, fading out of the frame.

“Just kind of a disappointment. We went over there with high expectations, and I hold him in such high regard. He was training unbelievable. He started good but didn’t finish that way,” said Ward. “He scoped clean. Inititally I would have thought he’d bled or something the way he folded. And he jogged up after the race perfect.”

Ward wondered if Golden Pal bounce racing for the second time after a long layoff with a trans-Atlantic journey between the starts. “And Frankie [Dettori] said he was looking for the bend, as they say,” Ward said, referring to the absence of a turn that Golden Pal is used to encountering.

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Golden Pal could be trained up to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint or start in October at Keeneland, Ward said. Already at Keeneland is the filly Campanelle, who finished last in the Prix Maurice de Gheest earlier this month in France after rearing at the break.

“That race for her was essentially a throw-out. We’ll get her back working and see whether she runs at Keeneland or the Breeders’ Cup,” Ward said.

Ward said Golden Pal was his last European runner of 2021.