Royal Ascot berths on the line in Royal Palm Juvenile, Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – For the second year in a row, the U.S. road to Royal Ascot passes through Gulfstream Park. The winners of Saturday’s $120,000 Royal Palm Juvenile and its filly counterpart, the $120,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies, will receive $25,000 travel stipends and automatic berths into one of the six juvenile stakes to be decided from June 18-22 at the Royal Ascot meeting.

A year ago, trainer George Weaver swept both races, the Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies with Crimson Advocate and the Royal Palm Juvenile with No Nay Mets. Crimson Advocate returned a month later to upset the prestigious Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. Weaver will be back seeking a repeat Saturday with a pair of unraced 2-year-olds, Good Long Cry in the Juvenile Fillies and Governor Sam in the Juvenile.

“They’ve done enough in the morning that we think they have a shot,” Weaver said. “This race is here and because of what happened here last year, we said let’s start here.”

It just wouldn’t be Royal Ascot each spring, at least from a U.S. perspective, without trainer Wesley Ward, who predictably entered the morning-line favorites for both races here Saturday – Perfect Shances in the Juvenile Fillies and Raise the Bar in the Juvenile. Both were one-sided and very popular winners of their only previous starts last month at Keeneland. However, Ward confirmed Wednesday that only Perfect Shances will start.

“After the fields came out, and discussing it over with the owner [Douglas Scharbauer] and his team, we decided to scratch Raise the Bar to train him up to the race at Ascot rather than try to squeeze in two races,” Ward said. “He’s kind of a big horse, and the way he worked over the Keeneland turf course, which is as close to the turf at Ascot as any racetrack in the U.S., we felt that was the right decision to make.”

Perfect Shances was clearly outworked over the Keeneland turf by Raise the Bar on April 27, but Ward reasoned the firmer, quicker Gulfstream Park grass course would suit her much better. Perfect Shances led throughout to win her debut by 4 3/4 lengths over a sloppy track on April 11 at Keeneland.

“The course at Keeneland is a lot deeper than the one at Gulfstream,” Ward said. “She’s got incredible speed and I’m banking they’re just going to bounce over the course down there and that she will take to it much better.”

A full field of a dozen was entered for the Juvenile Fillies, 10 of them maidens, with the only other winner in the lineup aside from Perfect Shances the Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained The Queens M G. She was purchased privately after capturing her debut in game fashion on April 7 at Keeneland, outgaming West Memorial after a race-long pace duel. West Memorial came back to flatter the winner’s effort by upsetting the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes last week at Churchill Downs.

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Bois Blanc is the lone member of the lineup to have raced on turf. She finished a late-running second behind Ward’s even-money first-time starter Saturday Flirt going 5 1/2 furlongs over the Keeneland turf just two weeks earlier.

The declaration of Raise the Bar will leave a field of 10, all maidens, in the Royal Palm Juvenile. Only two of the runners have had any previous experience, Bright Skittle and Madros, who were third and fifth, respectively, going 5 1/2 furlongs under maiden special weight conditions over the Keeneland turf April 25. Bright Skittle rallied from near the rear of the field following a bit of an eventful start, while Madros prompted the early pace before flattening out a bit while finishing on his left lead.

Trainer Mark Casse will send out a trio of first-time starters in hopes of earning the Royal Ascot bonus that is up for grabs in the Juvenile – Makeit to Cheyenne, Classy War, and Garden of War, all of whom tuned up for the event by working on the grass at Palm Meadows. Classy War and Garden of War looked particularly impressive going a bullet half-mile in company in 46 seconds on April 21.

Reach for the Rose, I Know I Know, who has posted a series of fast works over the Palm Meadows turf, and the Jose D’Angelo-trained pair of Enterdadragon and Gabaldon also will launch their careers in the race.

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