Trainer Archie Watson has lodged an appeal with the British Horseracing Authority against the decision by stewards at Royal Ascot to disqualify Yoshiro Kubota's Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) from victory in last week's G1 Commonwealth Cup.
Dragon Symbol and Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) moved into a joint lead approaching the final furlong of the Commonwealth Cup, at which point Dragon Symbol, ridden by Oisin Murphy, began to drift towards the far side rail, bumping Campanelle, with Frankie Dettori aboard, as he did so. Stewards deemed that at the time of interference, both horses were traveling equally well and they determined that the distance lost by Campanelle as a result of the interference cost her the win. Campanelle had been beaten a head on the line by Dragon Symbol, but was ultimately declared the official winner. No appeal has been brought against the four-day ban for careless riding copped by Murphy.
Watson's case will be heard before an independent disciplinary panel of the BHA on July 1.
Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), front-running winner of the 2020 GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint for his breeder Randall Lowe, has been purchased by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg, a Coolmore official confirmed Wednesday.
The first foal out of Lowe's outstanding 11-time stakes winner Lady Shipman (Midshipman), Golden Pal was bought back on a bid of $325,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale and was runner-up on debut over the Gulfstream main track last April before missing by a neck to The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}) in the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot in June. The Florida-bred bested his stablemate Fauci (Malibu Moon) to graduate in the Skidmore S. at Saratoga in August and validated 4-5 favoritism in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, scoring by 3/4 of a length at Keeneland last November.
The decision to sell Golden Lad was not taken lightly, Lowe said.
“It was very hard,” he admitted. “I've been in this business now for 36 years. To go from the very bottom to come all the way to the top and then finally win the Breeders' Cup, it made it very hard. But I wasn't going to be the one to try to repeat with another horse and spend millions upon millions of dollars without finding a top horse again. He's going to run three or four times this year and then head to the breeding shed. This sale comes at the right time and at the right price.”
All is not lost, however, as Lowe retains ownership of Lady Shipman, narrowly runner-up in the 2015 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, and her colt foal by Omaha Beach named Lieutenant General. Lowe also owns a pair of breeding rights in Golden Pal upon his retirement.
“Before she ran in the Breeders' Cup, I had an offer on the table for $3.5 million,” Lowe said of Lady Shipman. “People thought I had lost my mind for not selling her before the Breeders' Cup, but I told everyone, 'I've gotten this far with her and I honestly believe enough in her that I think we have a legitimate chance to win the Breeders' Cup.' And she got beat a bob. People have been trying to purchase her from me and I said, 'If we can't win the Breeders' Cup with her, we'll win it with one of her kids,' and we were right.”
Lowe reports that Lady Shipman is currently back in foal to Uncle Mo
Golden Pal is currently in training with Wesley Ward at Churchill Downs, where he breezed five furlongs in an easy 1:02.20 over a firm turf course June 20. Ward is pointing the bay towards a seasonal reappearance in the $120,000 Quick Call S. on opening day of the Saratoga meeting July 15 as a stepping-stone to the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. at York Aug. 20. Golden Pal was an intended runner for last year's Nunthorpe, but the threat of wet weather scuppered those plans and he was rerouted for the Skidmore.
The Ward-trained and Coolmore-owned filly Acapulco (Scat Daddy) won the 2015 G2 Queen Mary S. at the Royal meeting and made the running in the Nunthorpe before finishing second as the 8-5 favorite.
WATCH: Golden Pal winning the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint
Stonestreet Stables's Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), the winner of last week's G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, will skip an intended start in the G1 July Cup on July 10 and instead ship back to trainer Wesley Ward's Keeneland base on Wednesday. Campanelle's new target is the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, Ward confirmed.
“We're going for the Maurice de Gheest on Aug. 8, so we'll have plenty of time to get her back here tomorrow and get her ready and get her there a couple days before the race,” he said, noting that the 3-year-old filly came out of the Commonwealth Cup “beautifully.” Campanelle crossed the finish line a head behind Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {GB}) at Royal Ascot, but was promoted to the win after stewards deemed she was significantly interfered with by Dragon Symbol, who drifted and carried her across the track in the closing stages. Campanelle was winning for the second time at the Royal meeting, having taken last year's G2 Queen Mary S.
Ward could have another European runner this summer in the form of last year's G2 Norfolk S. runner-up and GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), who will make his first start since the Breeders' Cup during opening weekend at Saratoga and, if all goes well there, target the G1 Nunthorpe S. at York on Aug. 20.
Jockey Justin Stein doubled up in this weekend's stakes action at Woodbine when the Wesley Ward-trained Outadore rallied to victory in the $125,000 Woodstock Stakes for three-year-olds on Sunday afternoon.
“I'm just fortunate to be on the right horse on the right day,” said Stein, who also won the first stakes of the meet on Saturday, with Star Shoot winner Can't Buy Love for conditioner Michael Trombetta.
In the Woodstock, Stein had Outadore positioned mid-pack before sending the Outwork colt three-wide into contention on the turn and kicking clear down the lane to win in 1:09.77 over six furlongs on the Tapeta.
Outadore paid $5.90 to win as the slight second choice to Jaxon Traveler, who appeared on the lead briefly at the start and finished 1-1/4 lengths behind the winner in second. Ward also picked up third money with Chasing Artie closing from the back under Kazushi Kimura. They were followed by Sky's Not Falling, Master Spy, Derzkii, and pacesetter Saturday George (:23.21, :45.82).
“He broke sharp, he broke hard, but we were out-run, out-footed early,” said Stein. “He settled into stride in behind and when I called on him, he really kicked. He dug in, he's a runner. He's a nice horse.”
Following up a victory in the Animal Kingdom Stakes in late March at Turfway Park, Outadore is now two-for-two to start his sophomore season. Owned by Breeze Easy LLC, the Kentucky-bred gave way to finish third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last year and now has four wins from six career starts and more than a half-million dollars in purse earnings.
