Wesley Ward Royal Ascot stable tour: "He's the best I've had"

Wesley Ward is confident his American speedball Golden Pal will show British racegoers his true colours in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot next week.

It could be argued the four-year-old is the best sprinter in the world judged on his two stunning victories at the Breeders’ Cup, but he has yet to produce that sort of form on UK soil.

He was mowed down late by The Lir Jet on his first visit to Royal Ascot in the 2020 Norfolk Stakes, while having missed the showpiece meeting last season, he disappointed in the Nunthorpe at York.

Golden Pal is unbeaten in three starts on home turf since, however, and Ward feels he is at his peak following a Sunday morning workout ahead of catching a flight to Stansted on Wednesday morning.

“We were looking to get through yesterday and make sure we got in and out of there in good order and we did, so we’re ready to roll,” said the trainer.

“I’m so excited for this horse I can’t even tell you. He’s the best I’ve ever brought to Ascot in all these years, and I’ve brought some good ones, but this guy is the fastest of the fast.

“He’s really matured from last year to this year mentally and physically he’s gotten bigger and stronger, as any horse would from three to four, but he’s just a pure athlete and this is his year.

“After the Breeders’ Cup last year, when I asked Michael Tabor if he could ask his buddies in the Coolmore partnership if we could keep him going, and he got back to me and said we could roll on, this is what we’ve been planning for – the King’s Stand.

“We got his season off to a bang here at Keeneland and we’re almost there.”

Golden Pal is one of a small but select team of five horses Ward is sending across the Atlantic as he bids to add to his 12 previous Royal Ascot victories, the others being Campanelle (Platinum Jubilee), Love Reigns (Queen Mary), Seismic Spirit (Windsor Castle) and Ruthin (Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes).

While the Washington-born trainer usually houses his raiding party in Newmarket, this year they will be based at Chelmsford racecourse.

“They ship out Wednesday at 4.30am, so they should arrive late on Wednesday night if they don’t hit any traffic,” Ward added.

“I figured that after a long flight they can jump right off and straight into bed as Stansted to Chelmsford is only a few miles away, whereas Newmarket means a little longer on the lorry.

“They’ll have an easy day on Thursday and Friday, Saturday, Sunday they’ll have a couple of gallops there at Chelmsford and then we can move into Ascot be in good shape.”

The big hope for Ward is Golden Pal, who is a hot favourite for the King’ Stand Stakes on Tuesday week, but his stablemate Campanelle is already a dual Royal Ascot winner, having struck gold in the Queen Mary two years ago and claimed the Commonwealth Cup in the stewards’ room last season.

She will bid to make it a hat-trick in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes, with Ward particularly enthused about her chances following her final workout at Keeneland on Sunday morning.

He said: “My work rider, Julio Garcia, has been with me for the last 16 years. He won thousands of race as a jockey before he retired and he rode all the Ascot horses in their last pieces of work.

“He rode Campanelle, she broke behind Kimari and he tracked her all the way over five furlongs.

“He eased out with a furlong to go and it almost looked like Kimari was going to keep rolling on and visually watching I was thinking ‘uh oh, maybe Campanelle doesn’t have it’.

“I was thinking ‘Oh well, Kimari is a very good horse who has finished second twice at Ascot and she’s a Group One winner’. All these thoughts were going through my mind.

“Then all of a sudden Julio moved his knuckles just a shade and within three strides Campanelle made up three lengths – she responded like a lion getting to an antelope.

“It was exactly what we wanted to see. The whole team had smiles on their faces after watching that, which was great to see.”

Another filly returning to Ascot is Ruthin, who disappointed in the Windsor Castle 12 months ago but better is expected in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes.

“She’s a very nice filly who won on her two-year-old debut last year and went over to Ascot for the Windsor Castle. She shot right to the lead and then faded in the last part of the race,” said Ward.

“She came back and won a Listed Stakes race here at Keeneland, so she’s two from three, and I’m hoping she’ll go there and run a big race.”

Ward’s quintet is completed by a pair of two-year-olds in Love Reigns and Seismic Spirit, who are bound for the Queen Mary and Windsor Castle Stakes respectively.

The former made a huge impression on her Keeneland debut and is well fancied to provide her trainer with a fifth Queen Mary success.

Ward added: “She had about the best debut race I’ve ever had here at Keeneland – she won by almost 10 lengths and just scampered away from them.

“The guy that gives the figures here really didn’t want to give her a figure because he was sort of unsure thinking ‘how could she run that fast?’.

“She has had three or four pieces of work since then and all of them have been nice and steady and beautiful breezes. Every horse that kind of engaged her, she just exploded away from them.

“She’s coming over the Queen Mary and we’re really excited about her.”

When asked what he felt his best chance of a winner was, Ward is in no doubt.

He said: “I don’t think I have to answer that one. Golden Pal is the best I’ve ever had, that’s for sure, and he’s coming into the race just like you’d like to see.

“I’ve got Blake Heap coming over with him and the others on the Fed Ex plane, just to make sure everything goes well and we’re trying to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s.”

Crack American jockey Irad Ortiz Jr, who has steered Golden Pal to successive Breeders’ Cup wins is set to make his Royal Ascot debut next week after trainer Wesley Ward confirmed he will ride all five of his intended runners at the showpiece meeting.

The Puerto Rican rider is no stranger to big-race success in the US, enjoying multiple Grade One victories across the country and starring at the Breeders’ Cup in recent years.

Ward, who became the first American trainer to saddle a Royal Ascot winner in 2009, has previously called on the services of Frankie Dettori and John Velazquez in Berkshire, but is putting his faith in Ortiz next week.

“Irad is riding every one,” the trainer said. “Frankie is my man and I love him, but Irad is swinging right now in the States – he’s the hottest rider in America.

“He’s a great kid and rode Acapulco for me a few years back when she finished second in the Nunthorpe at York (in 2015). He’s won all over in America and he’s just a phenomenal rider who rides with extreme patience.

“He’s the man of the moment here in the States, that’s for sure. He’s put a lot of work in for me early in the mornings and he’s so excited to get over to Ascot.”