Tag: Prince of Wales S.

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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Shadwell’s Mostahdaf Improves To Second On Longines WBRR

Shadwell's Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) dominated the G1 Prince of Wales's S. by four lengths at Royal Ascot last month and improved his Longines World's Best Racehorse Ranking (WBRR) from 121 to 128 to sit second behind the 129-ranked Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) on the leaderboard, with the latest rankings released by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) on Thursday.

Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) who was second as the favourite in the 10-furlong contest, sits on 123 while Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was third home and is weighted on 120.

Following his decisive victory in the G1 St James's Palace S. at Royal Ascot, three-time Group 1 winner Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) is up to 125 for his defeat of the classy Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (121), the top-rated female in the world, in the G1 Coral Eclipse S. July 8. Paddington joins Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) and Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {Aus}), who will fight out Hong Kong Horse of the Year honours, to be announced Friday. Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) led home a 1-2 finish for his sire in the G1 Queen Anne S. to open the Royal Meeting and is rated on 121.

A pair of American gallopers are also on the rise after victories on the Belmont S. undercard last month. Cody's Wish (Curlin) improved from 119 to 122 after an impressive win in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. and is rated joint-best dirt horse in the world with G1 Dubai World Cup hero Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}). Up To The Mark (Not This Time) cemented his status as America's pre-eminent turf horse with an easy tally in the GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S., for which he was awarded a rating of 121, bettering his effort in the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic by one pound.

The next edition of the Longines WBRR will be published on Aug. 10.

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Woodbine Releases 2023 Stakes Schedule

Woodbine Entertainment unveiled the stakes schedule Monday for the 2023 Thoroughbred racing season at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario.

The program will offer more than $17 million in purses, including 39 graded stakes, five Grade I events and two $1 million classics, The King's Plate and Ricoh Woodbine Mile.

“Highlighted by the return of the Canadian International, and the first running of The King's Plate in 70 years, this year's stakes program at Woodbine will be as exciting as ever,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment.

The 164th running of The King's Plate is schedule for Sunday, August 20 to launch the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. The $400,000 Prince of Wales will be run Tuesday, September 12 at Fort Erie Race Track, while the $400,000 Breeders' S. will be contested Sunday, October 1.

The GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile is accompanied by the $500,000 GI Johnnie Walker Natalma S. and $500,000 GI Summer S. Saturday, September 16. The trio of Grade I events are all part of the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series.

The biggest addition to the 2023 stakes schedule is the return of the Grade I Canadian International. The race will have its 84th running Sunday, October 8 at a new distance of a mile and a quarter over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course. The GI E.P. Taylor will also be contested on October 8.

The $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser will launch the Canadian Triple Tiara Sunday, July 23. To view the entire 2023 Thoroughbred stakes schedule, click here.

The 2023 season at Woodbine Racetrack opens Saturday, April 22 and runs through Sunday, December 10.

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