Royal Ship, Soothsay done for the year
The 2021 Grade 2 winners Royal Ship and Soothsay will not race again this season, trainer Richard Mandella said recently.
Royal Ship won the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita in April, but was winless in three subsequent starts, including a second by a head to Country Grammer in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May and a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21.
A 5-year-old gelding, Royal Ship was a Group 1 winner in Brazil in 2020.
“We’ll give him a good break,” Mandella said.
The 3-year-old filly Soothsay has been sidelined with a splint bone injury, and is expected to return to racing in 2022. Soothsay won the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks at Indiana Grand in July and was under consideration for the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing until the recent injury diagnosis.
Earlier this year, Soothsay won the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks in April.