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.

VELOCITOR and Justin Stein win the 88th running of The Prince of Wales Stakes.

The second jewel of the @OLG_CA Canadian Triple Crown pic.twitter.com/uO8MtjxS1t

— Woodbine Racetrack (@WoodbineTB) September 12, 2023

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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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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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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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That a wagering record was set was hardly a surprise considering that the card at Kentucky Downs was also the best ever offered at the sport's most unique racetrack. There were six graded stakes on the card and five of them were worth $1 million. The average field size was 11, the type of number horseplayers love.

Kentucky Downs is improving every year, but there is a way to make to make it even better. Largely because of the width of the turf course, fields are limited to 12 horses. In many races, there are 16 horses entered in a race, with four on the also-eligible list. For most tracks, limiting the number of starters to 12  wouldn't be an issue. But, according to Kentucky Downs Senior Vice President and General Manager Ted Nicholson, it's not uncommon for as many as 30 horses to enter a race, particularly in maiden races.

If Kentucky Downs does as well as it does limiting the fields to 12 horses, imagine how much more they could handle if allowing 16 horses to race. And why limit things to 16 horses? What's wrong with a 20-horse field, a 22-horse field?

Nicholson said track management is exploring its options relating to field size. It would take widening the course, particularly on the turns.

“Increasing the amount of horses that can run is something that we have talked about, but talks haven't gone that far,” he said. “We've been content with having 16 possibles and scratching down to 12. This is one of those things we probably should consider even more for next year.”

Nicholson added that the track decided to card more maiden races, which almost always have oversubscribed fields, this year. There were four on Saturday's card. It was done so that horsemen with maidens would have a better chance of getting into races rather than being shut out for the entire meet because it has been so difficult to get into those races.

“I'd much rather run a maiden race with 12 than throw up a claiming race that might scratch down to seven or eight,” Nicholson said.

Saratoga Is Growing But Is The Sport?

It was announced last week that the Saratoga meet set still another wagering record with $878,211,963 bet on the meet, a 7.7% increase over what was a record handle in 2021. If the trends continue, we may be only three or four years removed from the meet breaking the $1-billion mark, an astounding number.

But while this is good news for Saratoga and NYRA, the numbers suggest that the handle increases are not a matter of the pie growing but Saratoga taking a bigger slice of the pie. According to Equibase, through August, total handle is up just 0.24% on the year. In August, which includes the bulk of the Saratoga season, wagering was down 0.86%.

It's not just Saratoga. The numbers coming out of the top-tier tracks, particularly the boutique meets, continue to be good. That probably means that customers continue to turn away from the second and third-tier tracks and are focusing their wagering dollars on the very best simulcasting signals.

Problems for the Canadian Triple Crown

For the second year in a row, the winner of the Queen's Plate will not be running in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. When entries were taken last week for Tuesday's Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie, the field,  as expected, did not include Queen's Plate winner Moira (Ghostzapper). She is being pointed for a Grade I race and trainer Kevin Attard said he is looking at either the GI E.P. Taylor S. at Woodbine or the GI Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. at Keeneland. Attard wants to give her a chance in Grade I company to enhance her resume. You can hardly blame him.

The 2021 Plate winner Safe Conduct (Bodemeister) skipped the Prince of Wales because the connections thought me might have a hard time making the transition from Woodbine's Tapeta surface to the Fort Erie dirt track.

Also sitting out the $400,000 Prince of Wales will be Queen's Plate runner-up Hall of Dreams (Lemon Drop Kid) and Queen's Plate beaten favorite Rondure (Oxbow).  The 7-5 morning-line favorite in the race is Sir for Sure (Sligo Bay {Ire}), who was third, beaten nine lengths, in the Queen's Plate.

With the race being run three weeks after the Queen's Plate and offering a purse that is modest by today's standards, the Prince of Wales has become a weak link in the Canadian Triple Crown, which also includes the Breeders' S. at Woodbine. As is this case with the U.S. Triple Crown, there is talk that the series needs to be tinkered with. One thought is to bring back a bonus structure for any horse sweeping the three races, something the Ontario tracks have done off and on over the years. Throwing some money at the problem is one possible solution.

As for the Queen's Plate, it appears that is about to undergo a name change with the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Since its inception way back in 1860, the race has been named for the reigning British monarch and has been called the Queen's Plate since 1952. As long as Woodbine sticks to tradition, the race will be renamed the King's Plate in honor of King Charles III.

New Voices in NYRA Announcer's Booth

It was announced last week that Frank Mirahmadi will take over as the announcer at Saratoga next year. It was one of a number of changes when it comes to the NYRA race-callers. John Imbriale has decided to cut back on his duties and will call the races at Belmont only. Chris Griffin, currently the announcer at Parx, will take over the duties at Aqueduct.

Mirahmadi will split his time between two of the top tracks in the sport, Saratoga and Santa Anita. Considering those assignments, his popularity and the quality of his calls, it's easy to argue that Mirahmadi deserves to be recognized as the very best in his profession.

Mirahmadi will be leaving Monmouth at the end of the current meet. If he's amenable to the idea, isn't bringing Larry Collmus back to Monmouth an obvious move?

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“OLG's continued support of horse racing helps organizations like Woodbine bring the fast-paced action of horse racing to more Ontarians,” said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. “With their support, we are able to enhance premier Thoroughbred racing events and expose thousands more people to the sport we love.”

“Horse racing has a rich history in Ontario and OLG is proud to play a significant role in engaging existing and new fans with popular events like the 2021 OLG Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing,” said Lori Sullivan, OLG Chief Land-Based Gaming and Business Development Officer. “We will continue to work with our valued horse racing partners, like Woodbine, to drive growth and set the stage for future opportunities with this exciting sport.”

The Queen's Plate is North America's oldest continuously run stakes race and will celebrate its 162nd renewal over 10 furlongs of Woodbine's Tapeta track Aug. 22. The Prince of Wales S. will be contested over a mile and three-sixteenths of the Fort Erie main track Sept. 14, while the Breeders' S. will be run for the 130th time over Woodbine's E.P. Taylor turf course Oct. 3.

Tickets for the Queen's Plate will be available through a pre-sale this Wednesday, July 28, and will go on sale to the general public this Friday, July 30.

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Bred in Ontario by Christine Hayden, Breaking Lucky was a solid fifth to Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper) in the 2015 Queen’s Plate before turning the tables in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown at Fort Erie. Winner of the GIII Seagram Cup S. on the Woodbine synthetic in 2016, he hit the board behind Gun Runner in the 2016 GI Clark H., the 2017 GI Stephen Foster H. and 2017 GI Whitney S.

A son of the Grade I-placed Shooting Party, Breaking Lucky is a half-sister to Quake Lake (War Chant), the dam of GI Kentucky Derby hero Country House (Lookin At Lucky) as well as the talented turf distaffer Mitchell Road (English Channel) from the same Smart Strike sire line.

“Our mission has always been to expand Florida’s breeding program by offering exceptional stallion bloodlines,” said Joe Barbazon, owner of Pleasant Acres Stallions. “Bringing Breaking Lucky to Pleasant Acres Stallions is a huge win for all of us in the state. This successful GSW millionaire is the the only son of Lookin at Lucky to be standing in Florida and we are proud to have him at Pleasant Acres Stallions.”

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