Royal Ascot: Campanelle, Extravagant Kid to race in Europe again this summer

Wesley Ward’s 2021 Royal Ascot adventure has ended, and his horses soon will join him back in the U.S.

Ward was at Keeneland on Monday, his Ascot runners due to return on Wednesday, among them Campanelle, who had been mentioned as a possible runner in the July Cup at Newmarket but won’t be starting in that race. Campanelle, placed first Friday in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup when Dragon Symbol was disqualified for compromising her chance to win outright, will return to Europe later this summer for the Prix Maurice de Gheest, a Group 1, 6 1/2-furlong straight-course sprint Aug. 8 at Deauville. Ward said Frankie Dettori, aboard for the Commonwealth, has agreed to ride the filly in France.

Ward is less certain that Campanelle will be aimed toward the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint this fall at Del Mar. At five furlongs, that race could be shorter than the filly prefers, and Ward on Monday said he is extremely high on 3-year-old Golden Pal, who hasn’t raced since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall at Keeneland but is on track to start July 15 at Saratoga in the Quick Call Stakes.

“He could really be the one,” said Ward, who is aiming star filly sprinter Kimari for the Honorable Miss at Saratoga.

Ward’s 2-year-olds failed to make their expected impact at Royal Ascot, with Kaufymaker, Ruthin, Lucci, Nakatomi, and Golden Bell all finishing unplaced. Twilight Gleaming did finish a solid second as the favorite in the Queen Mary Stakes, while Napa Spirit was redirected from Ascot to the Prix du Bois on Sunday in France, where he also finished unplaced.

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While Ward’s stock heads back home, trainer Brendan Walsh said in a text message Monday that tentative plans call for Extravagant Kid, who finished a fine third in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes on June 15, to remain in England for the Group 1 July Cup over six furlongs at Newmarket on July 10. Extravagant Kid in late March won the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai with Ryan Moore riding him there; he was also aboard at Ascot.

Extravagant Kid is likely to face Oxted, who won the King’s Stand and captured the 2020 July Cup.

Plans still are being set for some of the overseas stars who won important Royal Ascot races. The 3-year-old Poetic Flare, standout winner of the St. James’s Palace Stakes, could meet Europe’s top older miler, Palace Pier – comfortable winner of the Queen Anne, first race of the Ascot meet – in the Sussex Stakes next month at Goodwood. Poetic Flare received the better Timeform Rating for his Royal Ascot performance, earning a 128 in the St. James's Palace, while Palace Pier was assigned a 124 for his win in the Queen Anne.

Love, meanwhile, has a number of options for her next start after returning from a 10-month layoff with a front-running victory June 16 in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Love’s connections obviously want to get her to the Arc but have shown they want no part of racing the brilliant 4-year-old over rain-softened courses.

Love excels between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 miles, leaving races like the Eclipse Stakes, the Juddmonte International Stakes, and the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes as nearer-term summer goals.