Hear the full interview
From 1:05 in Wednesday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Hugo Palmer believes Sale Shark’s pedigree gives him every chance of seeing out the mile of Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, even though the colt has so far done his winning over sprint trips.
Sale Shark had been heading for the Juvenile Turf Sprint, where he was set to be first reserve, but got into the Juvenile Turf instead. Palmer, who arrived at Keeneland at half past one on Wednesday morning after a trip via Chicago, said the colt had travelled and settled well.
“He’s eating, he’s drinking, his temperature’s great, he looks fantastic,” Palmer told Nick Luck outside the quarantine barn before dawn. “He trained lightly yesterday morning, and everyone’s very happy with him.”
‘Stout influences’ in the pedigree
The son of Bayside Boy is a Listed winner over five furlongs, but Palmer studied his pedigree closely before committing to the longer race.
“From a pedigree point of view, he actually has no right to be running over five furlongs,” he said. “He’s a Bayside Boy out of a Giant’s Causeway mare, in turn out of a Bering mare. The dam didn’t win, but her siblings won over ten and 12 furlongs. He’s a five-furlong Listed winner, but he stayed six very well.”
Palmer was also taken with Aidan O’Brien’s view that a horse who gets six furlongs at Ascot has every chance of getting a mile round Keeneland. “If Aidan says it, then I’m not going to argue with Aidan O’Brien,” he said. “But not only has he got to get it, he’s got to improve five or six pounds for it.”
Sale Shark is drawn in nine, and Palmer said he would be ridden with stamina in mind. “I think Sale Shark is my first Breeders’ Cup runner to be given a single-figure draw,” he said. “We’re going to want to ride him a little bit colder than he’d naturally like and hope that he gets the trip.”
“My owners are desperate to win one of these races, and you don’t win any of them by staying at home.”
Hugo Palmer
Chasing a first Breeders’ Cup win
Palmer is still searching for his first Breeders’ Cup winner. His best day came at Del Mar, when Hierarchy was beaten about a length in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Ocean Road, who stayed in America and went on to win a Grade 1, was fifth in the Filly & Mare Turf. “I think two fifths that day. That’s been our best haul,” he said.
He accepts Sale Shark will be a big outsider, but he is not making the trip just to take part. “It’s a fantastic event, and my owners and I are desperate to win one of these races,” he said. “You never walk away happy, because you come here to try and win. I appreciate that we are a big outsider, but we’re going to give it our very best shot.”
