Queen’s Plate Contenders Switch to Dirt in Prince of Wales

With the absence of Queen's Plate S. hero Safe Conduct (Bodemeister), who will await the Breeders' S. on turf for his next engagement, a handful of horses who followed him home in that Woodbine feature will try dirt Tuesday at Fort Erie in an eight-horse renewal of the Prince of Wales S., the middle jewel of Canada's Triple Crown.

Given the narrowest of nods on the morning line at 5-2 is Ivan Dalos's H C Holiday (Ami's Holiday). Scoring against $40,000 maiden optional claiming foes second out at Woodbine, he was later disqualified from purse money in that race, but was on the positive side of a stewards' ruling two starts later when elevated to second in the Plate Trial S. Aug. 1. He then overcame traffic to finish a fast-closing third at 29-1 in the Queen's Plate.

Joshua Attard's Keep Grinding (Tizway) graduated at third asking last November at Woodbine and ran third in an allowance/optional claimer there upon return June 19. Runner-up at 16-1 in the GIII Marine S. July 11, the dark bay made a wide run to challenge Safe Conduct in the stretch of the Queen's Plate before fading late to finish fifth.

Also returning from that race are the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth-place runners, with Avoman (Old Forester), who won the Plate Trial, the most fancied on the morning line at 7-2.

The lone filly in the field, Breeze Easy's Curlin's Catch (Curlin), looks to rediscover the top form that briefly stamped her as a potential GI Longines Kentucky Oaks contender over the winter. A dominant winner of the Suncoast S. in her first start against winners Feb. 6 at Tampa, the $430,000 OBS April buy was a well-beaten fifth in both the GII Davona Dale S. and GI Central Bank Ashland S. before running third in Woodbine's Fury S. July 10 and fifth in the Woodbine Oaks Aug. 1.

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No Safe Conduct, But Eight Sophomores Entered For Second Leg Of Canadian Triple Crown

A competitive field of eight horses will take part in the 86th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes, the 2nd jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown (CTC).

Six of those contenders are coming off varied performances in the Queen's Plate. The 2021 Queen's Plate winner Safe Conduct will by-pass the Prince of Wales, but H C Holiday who placed third in the Plate will be looking to improve on his performance going 1 3/16-miles over the border oval's dirt course on Tuesday, September 14.

Trained by Kevin Attard, the dark bay colt is the son of Ami's Holiday. A graded stakes winner, Ami's Holiday was a runner-up in the 2014 Queen's Plate and finished third in the 2014 Prince of Wales Stakes. He went onto capture the third jewel of the CTC, the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine. His leading progeny, H C Holiday put in his final work over the Fort's dirt course earlier this week. His conditioner is pleased with his training heading into next week's race.

“He's trained really well. He came out of the race (Queen's Plate) in great shape. I thought he looked really good on the dirt training track at Woodbine. We brought him on Tuesday (to the Fort) as well and he went (1:01:20) by himself and seemed to be striding out really nice. He looked pretty smooth going over Fort Erie's course. Obviously if he runs back to that kind of race like last time in the Plate, he will be tough to beat.”

Owned by Ivan Dalos, H C Holiday will be ridden by Luis Contreras. Contreras has piloted several horses to victory in the Prince of Wales, including Pender Harbour (2011), Amis Gizmo (2016), and Cool Catomine (2017).

Attard will also saddle Harlan Estate (seventh in the Plate) and Haddassah (eighth in the Plate). Both horses have worked well heading into next week's race. Attard was impressed with Harlan Estate's work over the dirt earlier this week at the Fort.

“I was most surprised with him. He worked really well. He hasn't been that great of a work horse, so he looked pretty comfortable. He went 59 and change. I'm kind of pumped about his chances. In my mind after watching him work I think his chances have increased. He came out of the work in good shape as well and he's a horse that kind of plods along. He will need a good trip and he can't afford to get stopped midway,” said Attard.

Meanwhile fifth-placed Plate finisher, Keep Grinding will continue the grind heading into the second jewel of the CTC. Trained by Tino Attard for Kevin's son, Joshua Attard, the bay colt posted his final work at the Fort, in company with Harlan Estate going (:59:40) over the dirt.

Avoman, winner of the 2021 Plate Trial Stakes and the 2020 Bull Page Stakes at Woodbine is looking to step up his game after a sixth-place finish in the Plate. The bay gelding will be sent out by conditioner, Donald MacRae and ridden by Antonio Gallardo.

The lone filly taking on the boys this year will by Mark Casse's trainee, Curlin's Catch. The daughter of Curlin is coming off a fifth-placed finished in the Woodbine Oaks. She will be guided by veteran rider, Patrick Husbands. Back in 2018, Husbands clinched the Queen's Plate and the Prince of Wales with a filly named Wonder Gadot, trained by Mark Casse as well.

Looking to make waves in the Prince of Wales is Gail Cox's trainee, Tidal Forces. Owned by Sam-Son farm, the son of Malibu Moon finished ninth in the Plate. Woodbine-based jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson retains the mount and will pilot the bay colt around the border oval.

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Ready At Dawn, conditioned by Daryl Ezra for Double Blooded Stables, is the Fort-Erie based trainee. The son of More Than Ready will be the race longshot at 30-1. The bay gelding won his last start at the Fort on August 9 going seven furlongs over the turf course. The Prince of Wales Stakes, contested over the turf course, going 1 3/16-miles (nine and a half furlongs) will require the bay gelding to stretch out in distance over a different surface. His conditioner is tapping into the family lineage in order to capture the stakes race.

“I'm relying on his pedigree. His great grandmother Dance Smartly won the Canadian Triple Crown including the mile and a half Breeders' Stakes and his grandmother Dancethruthedawn won a multitude of stakes – the Oaks, the Queen's Plate. The pedigree says distance so I'm going to rely on that to get us through it.”

Despite being the longshot, Ezra feels very confident about Ready At Dawn's chances.

“I've done every job imaginable back here (at Fort Erie Race Track), from charting, announcing, and training. I've seen a lot of races. We are 30-1 in the morning line, but we are as good as anything in there.”

The $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes is the middle jewel in the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, for three-year-olds foaled in Canada, running 1 3/16-miles over the border oval's dirt surface. First race post time on Tuesday, September 14 is 1 p.m., with the Prince of Wales race scheduled for approximately 5:35 p.m. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Fort Erie Race Track is open to a limited number of spectators. Those watching from home can tune into the Canadian Triple Crown Broadcast beginning at 5:00 p.m. on TSN Channels 1 and 3, sponsored by OLG.

For more information, please visit forterieracing.com

$400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown

POST – Horse – Jockey – Trainer – (morning line odds)

  1. Avoman –Antonio Gallardo – Donald MacRae – (7-2)
  2. Tidal Forces – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Gail Cox – (15-1)
  3. Curlin's Catch – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse – (9-2)
  4. Haddassah – Gary Boulanger – Kevin Attard – (12-1)
  5. H C Holiday – Luis Contreras – Kevin Attard – (5-2)
  6. Ready At Dawn – MarkLee Buchanan – Daryl Ezra – (30-1)
  7. Harlan Estate – Kazushi Kimura – Kevin Attard – (6-1)
  8. Keep Grinding – Rafael Hernandez – Tino Attard – (3-1)

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Curlin Filly Bosses Rivals in Suncoast

Favored at 9-5 while making her return to stakes company in Saturday's Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, Breeze Easy's Curlin's Catch (Curlin) split horses decisively at the entrance to the home stretch and powered clear to score by daylight.

Beaten for speed in a scratched-down field of seven, the Ontario-bred raced slightly worse than midfield through the opening stages with a couple of rivals behind. Ridden quietly down the backstretch, she caught the eye when rallying between rivals three furlongs out, took an inside path into the lane and ran out a convincing winner. Pacesetting Be Sneaky (Into Mischief) set a moderate tempo and held for second ahead of Il Malocchio (Souper Speedy) in third.

A debut second two-turning over the Woodbine synthetic Oct. 11, the Sam-Son-bred filly was a low-odds fifth in the restricted Princess Elizabeth S. Oct. 31 before getting some time off. The $180,000 KEESEP yearling turned $440,000 OBSAPR breezer made her first appearance on the dirt in a one-mile event at Gulfstream Jan. 3, leading throughout to score by 2 3/4 lengths.

Curlin's Catch is one of three winners from six to race from her dam, Canada's Sovereign Award-winning juvenile filly of 2006. The winner, the 74th at stakes level for her sire, is bred on the very potent cross over A.P. Indy-line mares that has been responsible for the likes of champion Stellar Wind, other Grade I winners Global Campaign and Paris Lights and other graded winners Tenfold, Point of Honor and Malathaat. Catch the Thrill, who RNAd for $180,000 at KEENOV in 2018, produced a full-sister to Curlin's Catch in 2019. She was most recently bred to Curlin's Grade I-winning son Connect.

SUNCOAST S., $100,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 2-6, 3yo, f, 1m 40y, 1:40.89, ft.
1–CURLIN'S CATCH, 118, f, 3, by Curlin
1st Dam: Catch the Thrill (Ch. 2yo Filly-Can, SW, $290,167), by A.P. Indy
1nd Dam: Catch the Ring, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Radiant Ring, by Halo
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. ($180,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $430,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Breeze Easy LLC; B-Sam-Son Farm (ON); T-Mark E Casse; J-Antonio A Gallardo. $60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-0, $103,454. *1/2 to Chic Thrill (Smart Strike), SP, $159,375.
2–Be Sneaky, 118, f, 3, Into Mischief–Bella Castani, by Big Brown. O-Lael Stables; B-M Roy Jackson (KY); T-Arnaud Delacour. $20,000.
3–Il Malocchio, 118, f, 3, Souper Speedy–Egbert Bay, by Sligo Bay (Ire). O/B-Franco S Meli (ON); T-Kenneth G McPeek. $10,000.
Margins: 4HF, HF, 3/4. Odds: 1.80, 4.80, 4.00.
Also Ran: Special Princess, Feeling Mischief, Roll Up Mo Money, Scenic Overlook. Scratched: Gulf Coast, Honorifique, Jade Empress.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Sunday Insights: Juveniles from Prominent Families Have a Lot to Live Up To

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COLTS FROM FLAMBOYANT FAMILIES READY TO SHINE 

8th-BEL, 63K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, post time: 4:47 p.m. EDT

A $470,000 Keeneland September yearling for the partnership of Peter Brant and Robert LaPenta, Chad Brown’s MILES D (Curlin) is the first foal of an unraced Bernardini mare who hails from the exceptional Personal Ensign (Private Account)’s immediate family. That Broodmare of the Year’s Breeders’ Cup-winning and -producing daughter My Flag (Easy Goer) is Miles D’s granddam. The depth of this family seems limitless, but the graded winners in the last two years alone descending from My Flag’s daughters include Teresa Z (Smart Strike) and Performer (Speightstown). Including all the stars that trace to Personal Ensign would be an exercise in awe. Miles D will have to work for the win though, as hailing from the barn of John Terranova for Eric Fein is Original (Quality Road), whose unraced Empire Maker dam is a half-sister to GSWs Statuette (Pancho Villa), Academy Award (Secretariat), and Good Mood (Devil’s Bag). No fewer than 40 black-type performers descend from Original’s prolific granddam, Mine Only (Mr. Prospector), highlighted by GISWs Golden Ticket (Speightstown), Leofric (Candy Ride {Arg}), Well Chosen (Deputy Minister), and Telling (A.P. Indy). Original himself brought $425,000 at the OBS Spring sale after working two furlongs in :21 1/5. Speaker’s Corner (Street Sense) is a Godolphin homebred who is liable to improve as a second-timer for Bill Mott with an added furlong. His unraced dam is a Bernardini daughter of GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff and GI Acorn S. winner Round Pond (Awesome Again), who also produced Dubai Group 1 winner Long River (A.P. Indy).

 

FILLY OUT OF TWO GENERATIONS OF CANADIAN CHAMPIONS DEBUTS AGAINST COLTS

5th-WO, 126.8K, Msw, 2yo, 1m70y (AWT), post time: 3:29 p.m. EDT

Mark Casse unveils filly CURLIN’S CATCH (Curlin) against the boys. She’s a runaway winner on pedigree, as her dam is Catch the Thrill (A.P. Indy), Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2006 and already producer of stakes horse Chic Thrill (Smart Strike). Granddam Catch the Ring (Seeking the Gold) was likewise a Canadian champion and third dam Radiant Ring (Halo) was a GSW & GISP in the U.S. before being named Canada’s 2003 Outstanding Broodmare. Curlin’s Catch has been working well over the all-weather surface here, including a bullet :46 2/5 four panels (1/22) Sept. 16 and a more-recent :59 4/5 five furlongs (4/14) Oct. 1. Breeze Easy LLC picked her up for $430,000 at the OBS Spring sale after the filly worked a furlong in a sharp :10 1/5.

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