“Yeah, I saw somebody, but my horse was fighting with the other horse, so I wasn’t hitting my horse,” Ortiz said. Thin White Duke came flying on the outside and was just a neck behind True Valour at the wire. He was bet down to 1-5 in the Troy and came close to being upset, but was able to get just clear of front-running True Valour and jockey Feargal Lynch to his inside. Golden Pal, the Breeder’s Cup Turf Sprint winner last year and Breeder’s Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner in 2020, improved to 3-for-3 at Saratoga, with victories in the Skidmore as a 2-year-old and in the Quick Call last year.
It was no problem in the morning to sit behind horses.” That was the way we wanted to work the horse, and today, when that happened, I wasn’t afraid to take a hold and drop in or whatever, to sit and wait, because I was working the horse. “We’ve been working covered up by horses. He’s always in front of everyone the first couple jumps. “Then they were in front of us, and that’s not his style. “He was moving at the same time they opened the gate,” Ortiz said. But we were fortunate when that happened that we drew an outside post and there was nothing in front of him.” “When he got to the outside, a lot of times you stumble and get behind horses and get stuck in the crowd, then you’re in trouble. They would’ve been satisfied with one of those types of trips on Friday, but the choppy step out of the gate forced Ortiz’s hand, so he let the new training kick in early and Golden Pal’s speed kick in late. Ortiz has been on Golden Pal for his last two breezes, works that Ward tailored to condition Golden Pal to manage trips from behind horses, instead of just blasting to the front and running the field off its feet - his usual style. Leaving behind a last-place finish on the international stage in June, when Golden Pal missed the break and was essentially eased by Ortiz in the Group 1 King’s Stand, Golden Pal shook off an awkward start in the Troy and edged ahead of True Valour late, while also holding off a charge from long shot Thin White Duke, to win.
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