Royal Ship works seven furlongs for San Diego Handicap
Without racing, Royal Ship’s status has risen in the California older horse division since a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita on May 31.
In the Gold Cup, Royal Ship finished second by a head to Country Grammer, who has since been transferred from trainer Bob Baffert's California barn to Todd Pletcher in New York as part of the fallout of a drug-positive found in the post-race test of the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby on May 1.
Royal Ship beat Country Grammer in the Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita on April 17. Royal Ship, bred in Brazil, has had six starts in the United States. The Californian is his only win in that span.
Trained by Richard Mandella, Royal Ship is scheduled to start in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on July 17, a key prep to the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 21.
On Sunday at Santa Anita, Royal Ship worked seven furlongs in 1:26.60. Royal Ship worked in company with stablemate Keystone Field, who worked six furlongs to the finish line and was timed in 1:13.60. Mandella said Royal Ship worked a furlong past the finish line.
“He continues to do really well,” Mandela said of Royal Ship.
Owned by Fox Hill Farms and Siena Farm, Royal Ship was a Group 1 winner at about a mile on turf in Brazil in February 2020 in his final start in that country.
The older horse division at Del Mar could include shippers from other parts of the country for races such as the $250,000 San Diego Handicap or $750,000 Pacific Classic. The rankings could look significantly different before the end of the summer, or Royal Ship could emerge as the region’s leading older male.
“Hopefully, it will be me,” Mandella said.