Tag: Canadian Triple Crown

Velocitor Upsets King’s Plate Winner Paramount Prince To Capture Prince Of Wales

Over a track surface turned sloppy by steady afternoon rain at Fort Erie, Velocitor (Mor Spirit) finally got the better of rival Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman) to take the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown in the Prince of Wales S.

Fourth to the King's Plate S. winner in each of his last two starts, the dark bay gelding was able to turn the tables while drawn two gates to the outside of the 5/2 favorite. Outsprinted to the lead by Paramount Prince, Velocitor was able to tuck into a cozy spot just behind the pacesetter and enjoyed a ground-saving trip through a quick :22.80 opening quarter. Joined outside by Ottawa (Violence) up the backstretch, the 7-1 shot threaded between horses to begin his bid into the far turn. Paramount Prince, no doubt growing leg weary as the half went in :45.99, was game along the rail and top two turned for home together. Head and head into the final furlong, it was Velocitor who had something left to just edge by his rival close to home. Kaukokaipuu (Mr Speaker) had plenty of run left despite hanging on his left lead and got up in time to nail Paramount Prince on the line for the exacta slot.

Pedigree Note:

Polar Plunge, herself a multiple stakes winning mare, is a full-sister to fellow MSW Wind Chill Factor. She is also a half to GIII Whimsical S. winner Shakopee Town (Jersey Town). Velocitor hails from the first crop of Mor Spirit (by Eskendereya) and became his sire's first stakes winner last fall with a victory in Woodbine's restricted Coronation Futurity. His dam produced an unraced 2-year-old full-sister and reported a colt by Rock Your World this spring before returning to that Spendthrift stallion for 2024.

Tuesday, Fort Erie
PRINCE OF WALES S., C$400,000, Fort Erie, 9-12, (C), 3yo, 1 3/16m, 1:55.24, sy.
1–VELOCITOR, 126, g, 3, by Mor Spirit
                1st Dam: Polar Plunge (MSW, $287,174),
                                by Successful Appeal
                2nd Dam: Shakopee, by Evansville Slew
                3rd Dam: La Kestrel, by Robin des Pins
O/B-Al & Bill Ulwelling (ON); T-Kevin Attard; J-Justin Stein.
C$240,000. Lifetime Record: 10-4-1-1, $445,761.
2–Kaukokaipuu, 126, c, 3, Mr Speaker–Grey Pride, by Mizzen
Mast. ($10,000 Ylg '21 FTKOCT). O-Culpepper Island Syndicate;
B-Sean Fitzhenry (ON); T-Tedston Holder. C$80,000.
3–Paramount Prince, 126, g, 3, Society's Chairman–Platinum
Steel, by Eddington. (C$21,000 Ylg '21 CANSEP). O-Michael J.
Langlois and Gary Barber; B-Ericka Nadine Rusnak (ON);
T-Mark E. Casse. C$40,000.
Margins: 1, NK, 2. Odds: 7.85, 7.75, 2.70.
Also Ran: Cool Kiss, Tiburon, Twin City, Stanley House, Trinity Park, Stayhonor Goodside, Morstachy's, Ottawa. Scratched: Armaline. Click for the Equibase.com chart.

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Paramount Prince Shoots For Second Leg Of Canadian Triple Crown

On paper, it looks like 8-5 morning line favorite Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman) is the horse to beat in Tuesday's $400,000 Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. He's perfect around two turns and is coming off a front-running victory in the first leg of the series, the King's Plate. And once again, there doesn't appear to be another horse in the field who can keep this front-runner honest early.

But this race always comes with a handicapping conundrum. How do you pick the winner in a dirt race when not one of the 11 starters has ever won a race over that surface? Most have done their running at Woodbine over the turf courses or the synthetic Tapeta track.

“That's what makes the Canadian Triple Crown so unique,” said Paramount Prince's trainer, Mark Casse. “The first race is on Tapeta, the second is on the dirt and they finish up on the grass in the Breeders' Stakes. We had him all winter at our training center in Ocala and he trained extremely well over the dirt there. I'd be kind of shocked if he didn't handle the dirt. But you never know.”

According to the figures provided by Thoro-Graph, the offspring of Society's Chairman win 16% on the time on dirt and just 13% of the time on synthetic.

Casse has won the Queen's Plate/King's Plate three times, the Prince of Wales four times and the Breeders' Stakes twice. But he has yet to sweep a Canadian Triple Crown, something no horse has done since Wando (Langfuhr) in 2003. The series took a bit of a hit the last two years when the winners of the Queen's Plate skipped the Prince Of Wales. But it looks like the Prince of Wales has rebounded. The 12-horse field is the biggest in 21 years and most of the top Canadian-bred 3-year-old males will be in the race.

Looking to win the Prince of Wales for the fifth time, Casse has every reason to be confident. Paramount Prince, who will be ridden by Patrick Husbands, looks like an improving horse who flourished once sent around two turns. After three straight losses sprinting, he wired the field in the Plate Trial before doing the same in the King's Plate.

“Early on I was very disappointed in him,” Casse said. “This winter I kept saying this is a good horse. The first time I ran him I told (owner) Gary (Barber) that I didn't think he'd get beat. But he disappointed me. He trained great coming into his second race and didn't win either. I think he wants to you to grab him and get into a rhythm. He doesn't do that sprinting.”

Casse has also entered Stayhonor Goodside (Honor Code), who is 10-1 in the morning line and was kept out of the King's Plate.

“I kind of pointed that horse to this race because I thought he has a good dirt pedigree,” Casse said. “But we're all guessing.”

Trainer Michael DePaulo will send out a pair in 4-1 second choice Stanley House (Army Mule) and Cook Kiss (Kantharos). Cook Kiss is one of only two horses in the field that has started on the dirt. He finished second in a dirt allowance in July at Gulfstream. Stanley House was third in the King's Plate, beaten three lengths, and never threatened the winner. Both horses will wear blinkers for the first time.

“We're hoping somebody goes after Paramount Prince at some point. But you never know,” DePaulo said. “Patrick is a cagey rider and might not go to the lead. The Society's Chairmans in general haven't been real big dirt horses that I've seen. But you never know. I put the blinkers on Stanley because he's been a little further than I'd like in most of his races. The other horse, Cook Kiss, he sometimes looks like he's goofing around. I thought blinkers might help. You look at his Ragozin numbers and they're way better than his Beyer numbers because he's always so wide. He ran a mile and three eighths in the Plate.”

Kaukokaipuu (Mr Speaker) went off at 8-1 in the King's Plate only to lose by 37 1/4 lengths. Trainer Ted Holder is willing to try again.

“We haven't missed a beat,” Holder said. “We unfortunately got outdistanced so we ended up on the Alcohol and Gaming Commission's outdistanced vet's list. So, I worked with him, a very slow maintenance work for him to get him off the list. We went over him with the vets to make sure everything was in order and we got the green light, so we are proceeding.”

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Full Field of 17 Slated for Historic King’s Plate

A total of 17 sophomores–including Woodbine Oaks heroine Elysian Field (Hard Spun) and U.S.-based Kalik (Collected)-have signed on to contest Sunday's King's Plate, the initial jewel in the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. Held at Woodbine's Trackside Clubhouse, Wednesday's King's Plate breakfast was highlighted by the post-position draw, which was co-hosted by Woodbine TV personality Jeff Bratt and Woodbine track announcer Robert Geller.

Being run for the 164th time, making it North America's oldest continually run race, the 1 1/4-mile test will be contested as the King's Plate for the first time since 1951.

Favored in the morning line at 3-1 is the Chad Brown-trained Kalik, owned by Robert LaPenta, e Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Madaket Stables LLC. The partnership also campaigns Moon Landing (Nyquist), who drew post 17 for trainer Kevin Attard and is 20-1 on the morning line.

Kalik is a winner of three of six starts-all on the turf–highlighted by the June 3 GII Pennine Ridge S. at Belmont. The chestnut finished eighth in his latest start in the GI Belmont Derby July 8.

“With Chad, you know the horse will be in top condition coming into the Plate,” said jockey Kazushi Kimura, slated to ride the $200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase. “To be in The King's Plate is amazing. The race has so much history. You can feel the excitement building and I hope that we can say we won the first King's Plate since 1951. I know I have a big chance with this horse.”

Drawing the rail, Stanley House (Army Mule) broke his maiden at Gulfstream in March before finishing runner-up going 8 1/2 furlongs over Woodbine's Tapeta surface in May. Back in the winner's circle facing optional claimers, he finished sixth in the July 23 Plate Trial, won by Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman). The former, installed the 4-1 second choice on the morning line, will be ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.

In addition to Paramount Prince (10-1, post 13), trainer Mark Casse will also be represented by Elysian Field (8-1, post 2). Patrick Husbands will partner the former, while Sahin Civaci will be aboard the filly.

“Coming into a race like this, some horses are thriving and getting better, and that would describe her,” said Casse, who won the 2014 Plate with Lexie Lou and the 2018 running with Wonder Gadot.

Sunday's card also features a trio of stakes: the 1 1/16-mile GII Dance Smartly S. (on the E.P. Taylor turf for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up); the Catch a Glimpse S. (fillies) and Soaring Free S. (colts). Both juvenile races will be contested on the E.P. Taylor turf over 6 1/2 furlongs.

First post for Sunday is 12:25 p.m. (ET), with the featured King's Plate scheduled as Race 10 (5:39 p.m. ET). The national Plate broadcast will be televised on TSN and CTV starting at 4:30 p.m.

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Canadian Triple Crown, Woodbine Oaks Nominations Released

Woodbine Entertainment has released the nominations for the 2023 OLG Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, consisting of The King's Plate, the Prince of Wales and the Breeders' S. Totaling 124 3-year-olds foaled in Canada, the list of nominees includes star performers from last season, winners south of the border over the winter and many preparing for the upcoming Woodbine meet. Contested over three different surfaces at two courses, the Canadian Triple Crown will kick off Sunday, Aug. 20 at Woodbine with the 164th running of The King's Plate followed by The Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie Sept. 12 and the Breeders' S. Oct. 1 back at Woodbine. The full list of nominees is found here.

The list of contenders for the 68th Woodbine Oaks has also been released, totaling 63 Canadian-bred fillies, with last year's racing yielding eventual Canadian Horse of the Year Moira (ON) (Ghostzapper). The 2023 edition will run Sunday, July 23. The full nominee list for that race can be found here.

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