Irad Ortiz | Horse Racing Free Tips

Golden Pal Proves Deserving Favorite To Give Ward Back-To-Back Wins In Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint

Not all brilliant racemares are able to pass on their talents to their offspring, but it's really something special when they do. That was the case on Friday afternoon at Keeneland, when Golden Pal delivered redemption for his dam in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint as the 4-5 favorite in a field of 14 2-year-olds.

Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) is the first foal out of Randal Lowe's homebred Lady Shipman, who ran second in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in 2015, the last time the World Championships were held at Keeneland. Racing for Lowe, Golden Pal went one better with a front-running 3/4-length triumph over Cowan (11-1).

Golden Pal is named in honor of owner/breeder Lowe's mentor, John C. Mabee. Mabee operated Golden Eagle Farm, and his best horse was Best Pal, hence Golden Pal. The colt is 35-year industry veteran Lowe's first winner in the Breeders' Cup.

It was the second straight victory in the Juvenile Turf Sprint for trainer Wesley Ward, who won the race last year with Four Wheel Drive. Coming off a win in the previous race, the TAA Stakes with Rocketry, jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. piloted Golden Pal through the 5 1/2 furlong contest over Keeneland's “good” turf course and stopped the clock in 1:02.82.

Golden Pal out-broke the rest of the field at the start, leaping out to a two-length advantage in the backstretch. Ortiz tried for a sixteenth of a mile to gently ease the colt back off the bridle, but before the half-mile pole the jockey had to reach down and grab the reins hard to slow Golden Pal down. Even with the head-tossing and giving up his early lead, Golden Pal marked the first quarter in 21.62 seconds.

Stablemate Blame the Booze was also prominently placed early, but Golden Pal surged ahead by the quarter pole to again have a two-length lead over the rest of the field.

Meanwhile, Ubettabelieveit totally missed the break and spotted the field several lengths out of the gate. The Nigel Tinkler-trained colt wove through the field around the bend and was making up a ton of ground in the stretch.

Cowan also came from off the pace, inching into Golden Pal's lead in the final strides to nab second, beaten three-quarters of a length for trainer Steve Asmussen and jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. Ubettabelieveit rallied to finish another 1 3/4 lengths back in third, while Lipzzaner was fourth.

“He's just amazing,” Ward said of the winner. “I got a little worried on the backside. Irad kind of lost a little momentum there and took a pretty good hold of him, but then he just accelerated down the lane. When he accelerated past the quarter-pole, I knew we were O.K. I got a little worried on the last part and was hugging onto my son, but we got there. He's a champion colt. Thank God (Randy Lowe) gave him to me to train. I really appreciate it. (Next year's Breeders' Cup) is where we're heading, but first we're going to Royal Ascot. Here we come. He's going to get them this year!”

Bred in Florida by owner Randall Lowe, Golden Pal is out of the Midshipman mare Lady Shipman. The 13-time winner earned over $900,000 on the track, including multiple Grade 1 placings.

Her first colt finished second in his debut at Gulfstream in April, then traveled to Royal Ascot and was just beaten a neck in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes in June. Waiting until August to run Golden Pal again, Ward sent him out to finally break his maiden in the listed Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga. After giving his owner Lowe a first Breeders' Cup victory, Golden Pal's record stands at two wins and two seconds from four starts for earnings of $623,056.

Lowe said the colt will be given a break before coming back to Keeneland in April, then pointing to the Group 1 King's Stand at Royal Ascot and the Group 1 Nunthorpe after that, before a return to the Breeders' Cup next fall.

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Two-Time Defending Shoemaker Award Winner Irad Ortiz, Jr. Has 10 Breeders’ Cup Mounts

The 18th Bill Shoemaker Award will be given this weekend to the outstanding jockey of the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland, which kicks off Friday afternoon.

Won the past two years by Irad Ortiz Jr., who has 10 mounts in Championship races this weekend, the Shoemaker Award will go to the jockey who rides the most winners in the 14 Championship races. Should there be a tie among two or more riders with the most victories, the deadlock will be broken on a 10-3-1 point system for second- through fourth-place finishes.

The elder Ortiz brother's Breeders' Cup mounts include: Golden Pal (Juvenile Turf Sprint, Wesley Ward), Public Sector (Juvenile Turf, Chad Brown), Royal Approval (Juvenile Fillies Turf, Wesley Ward), Reinvestment Risk (Juvenile, Chad Brown), Come Dancing (Filly & Mare Sprint, Carlos Martin), Imprimis (Turf Sprint, Joe Orseno), Sharp Samurai (Dirt Mile, Mark Glatt), Nay Lady Nay (Filly & Mare Turf, Chad Brown), Whitmore (Sprint, Ron Moquett), and Improbable (Classic, Bob Baffert).

The Shoemaker Award is named in honor of one of the greatest jockeys in the history of Thoroughbred racing. Shoemaker, who captured the Kentucky Derby four times, won more than 8,800 races in a career that spanned more than 40 years. In 1987, at age 56, Shoemaker won the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) aboard Ferdinand at Hollywood Park.

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Orseno On Imprimis: ‘A Coach Is Only As Good As His Players,’ But ‘We Have The Right Player’

Breeze Easy LLC's Imprimis jogged twice around the training track at Keeneland Tuesday morning for a scheduled start in Saturday's Turf Sprint with a strong chance to give his trainer Joe Orseno a third career Breeders' Cup success.

“We're going to go to the gate tomorrow, which wasn't in my plans. Seeing we drew post three, I've decided to take him in the gate to stand him,” Orseno said. “I really wanted to be further on the outside. You can't do much about it.”

Imprimis was rated second in the morning line at 4-1 behind Got Stormy, the 7-2 favorite who finished second in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Mile last year at Santa Anita.

“I'm happy to have Irad [Ortiz Jr.] to ride him. He's a quality rider who knows the horse,” Orseno said. “He could get bottled up in there, but he has enough tactical speed for us to really do what we want.”

Imprimis, who has won eight of 15 career starts, finished sixth, beaten just four lengths, in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. After an extended break, the 6-year-old gelding has finished first in his only two starts this year in the Troy at Saratoga and the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint. The son of Broken Vow, however, was disqualified and placed third for drifting in during the stretch run of the Troy while making his first start in nine months.

“There was a lot of disappointment we didn't get the win. I never thought about the money. Yeah, I would have liked to get a bigger commission, but for me, it was: we did all that off that layoff; we got him ready and got him where we wanted him to be; shipped him to Saratoga and for him to win that way… ,” Orseno said. “They can't take that race away from him. They can take the first-place away, but the race was what I needed to get and that's what we got out of it. It definitely moved him forward for his next race.”

Imprimis was shuffled back in traffic in the stretch run at Kentucky Downs but recovered to mount an impressive drive to score by a neck under Ortiz Jr.

“I had no idea he was trapped down on the inside like that,” said Orseno, noting he didn't have a good vantage point while watching the race. “He just rode him out and around. That move he made doing that, picking up horses of that caliber, I told the owner, 'He has to be one of the choices for the Breeders' Cup off that race.' I think he'll peak for this race.”

Should Imprimis win the Turf Sprint Saturday, Orseno will enter a Breeders' Cup winner's circle for the first time since 2000, when he saddled Perfect Sting for a win in the Filly & Mare Turf and Macho Uno for a score in the Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

“It would mean a lot. When I went on that run with Stronach [Stables], it was five years and I was in it almost every year. We won two of them and were very competitive – we were third in the Classic with Golden Missile [in 1999]. I thought, 'I'll be doing this every year.' When you don't get to come back, you realize what it's about and what it takes,” Orseno said. “I have a conception of what it takes to get a horse ready to do this, but you have to have the horse. A coach is only as good as his players. Right now, we have the right player.”

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Olympico Will Try To Go One Better In Sunday’s Rescheduled Knickerbocker

After running second in last year's edition, the Chad Brown-trained Olympico will get another chance to earn a trip to the winner's circle when he competes as part of a five-horse field in the Grade 2, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on Belmont Park's inner turf on Sunday.

The Knickerbocker was originally scheduled for the Monday, Oct. 12 holiday card but was moved to Sunday's third race at 1:28 p.m. Eastern due to inclement weather. That provided Olympico with a few days of extra rest as he makes his first appearance since running fifth in the 1 1/16-mile Lure on Sept. 7 at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Bethlehem Stables, Olympico made his 2020 debut off a nearly nine-month layoff, finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on July 26 at the Spa. That marked his first start since finishing just one length back to Lucullan in the 2019 Knickerbocker.

After arriving from his native France last year, the now 5-year-old son of Rajsaman won his North American debut by capturing the Grade 3 Fort Marcy in May 2019 over Belmont's softer turf at the Knickerbocker distance. After six straight winless starts, he will look to recapture that form, drawing post 1 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. retaining the mount.

His stablemate, Devamani, was also bred in France and stared his career there before making the cross-Atlantic trek. Since arriving in the United States in 2018, the Dubawi gelding has been competitive. With Brown taking over the training duties for his 6-year-old campaign, Devamani has finished on the board in four of his five starts, starting 2020 with back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay on Feb. 8 and the Grade 2 Fort Marcy on June 6 at Belmont.

He ran third last out in the Lure and will return to Belmont for his eighth race at the track, drawing post 3 with Joel Rosario in the irons.

Juddmonte Farms' Seismic Wave will return to stakes company for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The 4-year-old Kentucky homebred ran second in a 1 1/8-mile race moved off the turf last out on August 27 at Saratoga. Before that effort on a sloppy and sealed track, the son of Tapit had run in 11 consecutive stakes contests dating to 2019, including a win in the English Channel going one mile over the Belmont turf last October and a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Poker on July 4.

“I think for his style of running, a racetrack at Belmont is going to suit him better to get the trip he needs,” said Garrett O'Rourke, the general manager of Juddmonte Farms. “It's a spot worthy of taking a shot in. He's a sound horse and a good servant. He's been a fun horse to have around. Horses like him are good to have around because they're reliable and usually perform really well.”

Seismic Wave broke his maiden at the Knickerbocker distance on turf in his third career start in February 2019 at Gulfstream Park. A stakes win could also help his value at the upcoming sale next month, O'Rourke said. Seismic Wave is 3-4-2 in 15 career starts with earnings of $362,800.

“He's entered in the Keeneland November Sale [under the WinStar consignment], so we'll see how he runs and take it from there,” O'Rourke said.

Seismic Wave will break from post 2 under Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano.

Phipps Stable's Breaking the Rules started his 5-year-old campaign with back-to-back wins against allowance company, besting a 10-horse field going 1 1/8 miles on June 20 at Belmont before following with a one-length score on July 29 at Saratoga Race Course.

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey moved the dark bay son of War Front back up to stakes company last out in the Lure on Sept. 7 at the Spa, where he ran fourth in his first stakes appearance since an eighth-place performance in the Grade 3 Poker in June 2019.

Breaking the Rules did not start again after the Poker for 12 months but has registered Beyer Speed Figures of 90 or greater in all three starts back, including a personal-best 101 for his July victory.

Hall of Famer John Velazquez, aboard for his two wins this year, will return to ride from post 5.

Waterford Stable's En Wye Cee has only one previous stakes race out of his six total starts to his credit – fourth in the Grade 3 Discovery last November at the Big A – but enters the challenge with momentum following a six-length win against optional claimers in a race taken over the turf on August 29 at Saratoga. The Todd Pletcher trainee's only previous start on grass was a third in a blanket finish on Aug. 1 at the Spa, finishing a neck behind King Cause. After earning a 93 Beyer, Pletcher will try the 4-year-old Declaration of War colt on turf again, retaining the services of jockey Jose Ortiz from post 4.

Sunday's 10-race card will feature a 12:20 p.m. Eastern first post. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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