Duke of Love had never raced on the dirt in seven career starts, much less run over a muddy racetrack. He did both for the first time on Tuesday at Fort Erie racetrack in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, coming through with flying colors to beat 6-5 favorite Ironstone in the 87th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes, middle jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown.
Under Justin Stein, the Ontario-bred 3-year-old colt by Cupid tracked Ironstone and Kazushi Kimura for the opening mile of the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales, engaged that rival on the turn for home and edged away in deep stretch to win by three-quarters of a length. Ironstone finished six lengths ahead of third-place finisher Ice Road and Jason Hoyte. Fast Feet (Sahin Civaci), Collaborative (Leo Salles) and Hunter Maser ( eased under Emma-Jayne Wilson) completed the order of finish.
Declan Carroll was unseated from his mount, Sir for Sure, while in between horses coming out of the first turn.
Duke of Love ran the 1 3/16 miles in 1:58.07 on a sealed muddy track and paid $7.10 to win as the second wagering choice in the field of seven. Fractions set by Ironstone were :22.93, :47.41, 1:11.73 and 1:37.57. Winner's share of the CAN$400,800 purse was CAN$240,000.
This was the third Prince of Wales triumph for Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll, following wins with Amis Gizmo in 2016 and Mighty Heart in 2020. She's also won the Queen's Plate three times and the Breeders' Stakes, final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, twice.
Stein was winning the Prince of Wales for the first time.
Duke of Love is owned by MyRacehorse, which purchased the bay colt for $85,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training at Timonium, Md.
Duke of Love was bred by Caldara Farm Inc., Patrick Costello, David Whitford and Tom Zweisler. The Prince of Wales winner was produced from an unraced Smart Strike mare, Tell the Duchess.
Duke of Love was one of four Prince of Wales starters coming out of the Aug. 21 Queen's Plate, though Moira, the filly who dominated males in the race, was not among them, nor was runner-up Hall of Dreams. Sir for Sure, third in the Plate, Ironstone (fourth), and Hunt Master (seventh) all finished ahead of Duke of Love, who was eighth, beaten 18 1/2 lengths in the Canadian classic.
Prior to that, Duke of Love finished fourth behind Sir For Sure in the July 24 Plate Trial and second behind Rundure in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes July 2. His only prior win this year came in an optional claimer/allowance sprint at Woodbine on May 7. Duke of Love came into the Prince of Wales with a record of two wins and a second from seven starts, all but one on the Tapeta synthetic surface at Woodbine. The non-synthetic starts was a fifth-place finish on turf at Gulfstream Park last December.
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