Golden Pal (right) was just touched off in the Norfolk Stakes by The Lir Jet© Photo Healy Racing
A tilt at the Coolmore Nunthorpe is back on the agenda for Golden Pal after a change of surface prompted connections to withdraw from a race at Monmouth Park on Saturday.
The son of Uncle Mo looked set to provide trainer Wesley Ward with a third victory in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, only to be mowed down in the shadow of the post by Michael Bell’s The Lir Jet.
Ward has a score to settle in the Nunthorpe, having seen both Acapulco and Lady Aurelia finish second at York — and as he would receive lumps of weight from his elders, Golden Pal was viewed as a leading contender for the five-furlong Group One.
However, following a blistering workout last weekend, Ward made the decision to instead target his youngster at Saturday’s Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park.
There has now been another change of plan, though, after the $75,000 contest was switched from the turf course to the dirt due to heavy rain.
Ward said: “We’ve scratched him from today’s race and we’re now making arrangements to take him to York.
“He worked unbelievably well last week. He started off 15 lengths behind two of Todd Pletcher’s horses and finished right up on their heels — it was a little bit too big of a work, to be honest.
“After that we decided we’d run him at home instead, in the Tyro Stakes, but they have now moved the race off the grass, so we scratched.
“He’ll have a little breeze in the morning and away we go. We have 13 days until the race and all we want is to keep him in the shape he is in right now — he really looks fantastic.”
