Tom Marquand, who will ride the 3-year-old, told Sky Sports Racing, “Having ridden for The Queen they will remain some of the proudest moments of my career for the entirety of it. Riding the first runner [for the King] is a moment to cherish as well.

“Educator is a lovely horse, he's shown a bit of character at home and he thankfully got his head in front at Newmarket at the start of the season.

“He's obviously an important runner, it will be a sad day and a happy day at the same time.”

Added British Horseracing Authority Chair Joe Saumarez Smith, “The loss of Her late Majesty was keenly felt within the racing and breeding industries given her lifelong passion for the sport, and so we are naturally thrilled to see that the horses previously owned by her will race on in the ownership of His Majesty King Charles III.

“Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II left an indelible mark on our sport and her legacy will continue to be felt, not only through the horses that will continue to run in the name of King Charles III, but also those she bred who are yet to be seen on the racecourse in the years to come.

“We wish Educator and King Charles III the very best of luck on Thursday and keenly look forward to further successes in those famous royal silks on British racecourses.”

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The 6-1 chance, third in the GIII Marine S. July 11 and eighth after getting rank early in the Queen's Plate last time Aug. 22, both over the Woodbine all-weather, chased in second as they passed the Fort Erie grandstand for the first time. He remained in a perfect, stalking position through a half mile in :47.30, made his move to take over on the far turn and dug down gamely in the stretch to hold Harlan Estate (Kantharos) safe for a one-two finish for trainer Kevin Attard.

A debut winner in an off-the-turfer at Woodbine last November, the Al and Bill Ulwelling homebred was a well-beaten third in grassy allowance at Woodbine June 13 prior to his two aforementioned stakes tries.

Pedigree Notes:

This is the second stakes winner for young sire Air Force Blue and sixth stakes winner for broodmare sire Whywhywhy.

Ten-time winner and multiple stakes-placed Lady Haddassah, claimed by Al and Bill Ulwelling for $16,000 at Oaklawn in 2013, is also responsible for the unraced 2-year-old gelding Haddassah's Devil (Daredevil); a yearling colt by Lookin At Lucky; and a colt by Mo Town of this year. She was bred back to Air Force Blue.

Tuesday, Fort Erie
PRINCE OF WALES S., C$400,000, Fort Erie, 9-14, (C), 3yo,
1 3/16m, 1:56.15, ft.
1–HADDASSAH, 126, g, 3, by Air Force Blue
1st Dam: Lady Haddassah (MSP, $248,164), by Whywhywhy
2nd Dam: Baby Lexi, by Storm Boot
3rd Dam: Queen's Castle, by Pleasant Tap
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. O/B-Al & Bill Ulwelling (ON); T-Kevin
Attard; J-Gary Boulanger. C$240,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-0-2,
$267,261.
2–Harlan Estate, 126, c, 3, Kantharos–Archerette, by Arch.
($39,000 RNA Ylg '19 FTKJUL; $90,000 2yo '20 OBSMAR). O-ERJ
Racing, LLC, Exline-Border Racing LLC, Madaket Stables LLC &
Clay Scherer; B-Tall Oaks Farm (ON); T-Kevin Attard. C$80,000.
3–Keep Grinding, 126, c, 3, Tizway–Samsal, by Consolidator.
(C$13,000 Ylg '19 CANSEP). O-Joshua J. Attard; B-Huntington
Stud Farm Corp. (ON); T-Tino Attard. C$40,000.
Margins: HF, 1 3/4, 4. Odds: 6.75, 3.45, 4.70.
Also Ran: H C Holiday, Curlin's Catch, Tidal Forces, Avoman, Ready At Dawn. Click for the Equibase.com chart.

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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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Trained by Hall of Famer and three-time Queen's Plate winner Josie Carroll, Mighty Heart headlines the final jewel of the tri-surface series for Canadian-bred three-year-olds, which concludes on Woodbine's world-renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course with the longest leg at the distance of 1 ½-miles.

The son of Dramedy, bred and owned by Lawrence Cordes, is the even-money morning line favorite in the field of 12 having already scored wins in the $1 million Queen's Plate at 1 ¼ miles over Woodbine's Tapeta track on September 12 and the $400,000 Prince of Wales at 1 3/16 miles over Fort Erie's dirt course on September 29.

“He's a little horse that's overcome [a lot],” said Carroll, who won the 2006 Plate with Edenwold and the 2011 running with the filly Inglorious. “There's something in racing we call heart, and horses with heart are what you're looking for more so sometimes than horses with talent.”

Aside from contending with 11 rivals, Mighty Heart could have to contend with turf that has some give to it. The Toronto area has experienced rainy weather in the lead-up to Saturday.

“I can't tell you how he's going to handle a yielding turf,” offered Carroll. “In North America, we very seldom get the chance to run on very soft turf. I believe he'll handle the grass. He's run once on the grass, and we had him up on the E.P. course the other day, and he just skipped across it. Pedigree-wise, we have every reason to think he'll handle it [the 1 ½-mile distance], but until a horse does that, you really don't know. It's a very, very challenging thing to be asking him to do right now. This horse has run two hard races and now you're asking him to go a mile and a half on a possibly tiring course. Hopefully, he's up to the challenge.”

Cordes is thrilled to see the outpouring of affection for Mighty Heart, which continues to swell ahead of the Breeders' Stakes.

“In this time of COVID, this is a boost to people,” he said. “The phone calls I get from the west coast to east coast of Canada, my girlfriend and I have had multiple dozens of calls… people are just so excited. I feel the same thing, it just puts the excitement into me, so for all of the racing fans and all of his fans, let's make it happen. Just cheer him on, we need everything we can get.”

Mighty Heart will once again have Daisuke Fukumoto in the irons.

The young Japanese-born rider is still wrapping his head around the significance of what it would mean to come out on top in the Breeders' Stakes.

“It would be very special,” said Fukumoto. “To win the Queen's Plate is already special, but the Triple Crown is the highest. You never think of winning the Triple Crown.”

The pair will square off against some familiar foes on Saturday.

Trained by Kevin Attard, Clayton (6-1), who won the Plate Trial in mid-August, was third in the Queen's Plate and runner-up in the Prince of Wales. Owned by Donato Lanni and Daniel Plouffe, the son of Bodemeister finished second, 2 ½ lengths behind Mighty Heart in the middle jewel at 1 3/16 miles over Fort Erie's dirt track on September 29.

Belichick, who finished a strong second in the Queen's Plate, and is the 7-2 second choice in the morning line, will look to turn the tables on his stablemate.

The son of Lemon Drop Kid, also coached by Carroll, has a pair of seconds and a third in three lifetime starts.

Owned by NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods, Belichick should appreciate the move to turf and the mile-and-a-half distance.

“This is a really talented horse,” said Carroll, who won the 2014 Breeders' Stakes with Ami's Holiday. “I think from the moment he came in my barn, he showed a great deal of ability. If anything has surprised me, it's that it has taken this long for him to really blossom. I'm not surprised to have him in this position. It's also very rewarding to train a horse of his caliber.”

Other Breeders' Stakes hopefuls include Conrad Farms' Muskoka Giant (20-1), who broke his maiden over one mile of turf two starts prior to his fifth-place finish in the Prince of Wales for trainer Mark Casse.

A two-time (2014 with Lexie Lou and in 2018 with Wonder Gadot) Queen's Plate winner, Casse, who won the 2007 Breeders' with Marchfield and the 2018 renewal with Neepawa, will also send out Deviant (30-1).

A chestnut son of Daredevil, Deviant won last year's El Joven Stakes and Sunday Silence Stakes. The Red Lane Thoroughbreds' gelding will be making his second straight start at Woodbine, after finishing seventh in the Queenston Stakes this July.

Unraced as a two-year-old, English Conqueror (12-1), a chestnut son of English Channel, will make his Triple Crown debut in the Breeders'.

Bred and owned by JWS Farms, the Darwin Banach trainee finished third in his career bow on July 5 at Woodbine, a seven-furlong maiden special weight turf engagement. After a disappointing 10th-place finish next time out, English Conqueror rebounded with a fourth in 1 1/16 mile race run on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, an effort that saw him display plenty of vigor in the late going.

He arrives at the Breeders' off a maiden-breaking score on September 19, a head victory that was earned over 1 1/16 miles on the Woodbine Inner Turf.

“He's doing really well,” said Banach. “He's like an immature little boy, in that it took him a little while to learn what was going on, and he's still learning. You have to ask him to do what you want him to do. He doesn't just go ahead and do it. I thought Emma [jockey, Wilson] would suit this horse fantastically after he finished fourth, and it did. I was quite concerned in that race because they went so slow early, but he does have a great turn of foot and he was able to kick on from there, get the lead and then get the win. I was very happy with that effort.”

Banach believes the lightly-raced Ontario-bred will be even better on Saturday.

“We always thought he was a good horse. We even considered the Queen's Plate and other races, but he couldn't quite get his game together before that time. So, here we are. We think he can handle a mile and a half and we've got to give it a shot.”

A victory would be even more special considering the sire of English Conqueror's dam, champion Sky Conqueror, was bred and owned by William Sorokolit, Sr., who recently passed away.

Banach trained the multiple graded stakes winning son of Sky Classic for Sorokolit. Sky Conqueror's victories included consecutive (2006-07) editions of the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes (G2T) and the 2007 running of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1T). Multiple graded stakes winner Classic Stamp was also another a horse of note for Sorokolit.

A successful businessman and entrepreneur, Sorokolit won 212 career races along with over $10.1 million (U.S.) in purse earnings.

“Emma rode Sky Conqueror, so maybe this is meant to be,” said Banach. “We loved training for Mr. Sorokolit and he'll be dearly missed. I believe he started owning horses in university, so for 70-some years he owned horses.”

Enchant Me (50-1), Glorious Tribute (30-1), and Olliemyboy (12-1) will also go postward after making an appearance in the opening legs of the Triple Crown.

Told It All (12-1), Meyer (30-1) and Kunal (50-1) complete the field.

In 2018, the Casse-trained filly Wonder Gadot won the first two Triple Crown races but did not compete in the Breeders' Stakes. Casse sent out Neepawa to victory in the final leg that year.

The last Triple Crown contender prior to Wonder Gadot was the great Wando, just the seventh horse to complete the series sweep since it was established in 1959 when he won the 2003 Breeders' Stakes with jockey Patrick Husbands aboard for trainer Michael Keogh and the late owner/breeder Gustav Schickedanz.

Since then, A Bit O'Gold (2004), Pender Harbour (2011) and Tone Broke (2019) also claimed two-thirds of the Triple Crown by taking the last two legs.

The longest shot to win the Breeders' was Miami Deco in 2010. The Ontario-bred son of Limehouse returned $132.10 for a $2 win bet. Catherine Day Phillips became the first female trainer to win the race courtesy of A Bit O'Gold in 2004. One year later, she was in the winner's circle again, this time with Jambalaya. Roger Attfield holds the record for most wins by a trainer with nine. His first came with Carotene in 1986. Jockey Rafael Hernandez has won three of the past four runnings.

“This is a great time for racing in Ontario,” said Woodbine Entertainment CEO Jim Lawson. “It's fun. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to promote the sport of horse racing. We're thrilled that there is this opportunity.”

Post time is set for 1:10 p.m. ET, with the Breeders' Stakes scheduled as the ninth race (approximately 5:39 p.m. ET). The historic event will be broadcast live from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET on TSN. Coverage is led by Canadian broadcasting legend Brian Williams, alongside TSN's Laura Diakun and Woodbine Entertainment's Jason Portuondo, with Brodie Lawson contributing reports from track level.

FIELD FOR THE BREEDERS' STAKES

Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer – Owner – Morning Line

1 – Meyer – Sahin Civaci – Martin Drexler – Bruno Schickedanz – 30-1

2 – Enchant Me – Steven Bahen – Santino Di Paola – York Tech Racing Stable – 50-1

3 – Clayton – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard – Donato Lanni and Daniel Plouffe – 6-1

4 – Olliemyboy – Patrick Husbands – Sid Attard – JMJ Racing Stables LLC – 12-1

5 – English Conqueror – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Darwin Banach – JWS Farms – 12-1*

6 – Glorious Tribute – David Moran – Barbara Minshall – Bruce Lunsford – 30-1

7 – Deviant – Jerome Lermyte – Mark Casse – Red Lane Thoroughbreds LLC – 30-1

8 – Mighty Heart – Daisuke Fukumoto – Josie Carroll – Lawrence Cordes – 1-1

9 – Belichick – Luis Contreras – Josie Carroll – NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods – 7-2

10 – Kunal – Emile Ramsammy – Steven Chircop – Bruno Schickedanz – 50-1

11 – Told It All – Kazushi Kimura – Norm McKnight – Rainbow Stables – 12-1*

12 – Muskoka Giant – Justin Stein – Mark Casse – Conrad Farms – 20-1

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Bearing out badly in two unsuccessful tries to open his career in the winter at Fair Grounds, Mighty Heart was given nearly four months off and came back as a new horse on Woodbine’s Tapeta surface, running away to a 4 1/4-length graduation at 13-1 July 11. Striking the lead in deep stretch before flattening a bit to finish third Aug. 1, the bay was a pacesetter for the first time in his career in the Queen’s Plate and crushed 13 rivals despite drawing the second-widest post. He drilled an interim half-mile in :47 2/5 (8/18) Sept. 24 at Woodbine to stay on his toes for trainer Josie Carroll, who won the Prince of Wales in 2016 with Amis Gizmo (Giant Gizmo).

Second choice on the morning-line in the nine-horse group is Donato Lanni and Daniel Plouffe’s Clayton (Bodemeister). A dominant first-out victor last November at Woodbine, the $50,000 Keeneland September grad had to be shelved for nearly seven months, but came back with two victories in his first three tries as a sophomore, including a tally in the Plate Trial S. Aug. 15 at Woodbine. Trying Mighty Heart on the far turn of the Queen’s Plate, he proved no match and settled for third.

A neck behind him that day was Ilium Stables’ third choice Tecumseh’s War (Summer Front). Prior to that run, the dark bay beat Mighty Heart despite traffic trouble when finishing second in the aforementioned Aug. 1 allowance in Etobicoke. The lone dual stakes winner in the field, Dotted Line (Signature Red) rates an outside chance. Capturing the Frost King S. and Kingarvie S. as a juvenile, the Norseman Racing Stable colorbearer is looking for his first triumph as a 3-year-old, but was third in both the GIII Marine S. and Plate Trial before fading to seventh in the Queen’s Plate.

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After a dominating 7 ½-length triumph in the Queen's Plate, Mighty Heart, bred and owned by Lawrence Cordes, and trained by Canadian Hall of Fame inductee Josie Carroll, will look to continue his winning ways in the $400,000 Prince of Wales, second jewel in the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. On Friday, he was installed as the 7-5 morning line favorite.

Daisuke Fukumoto, who rode the one-eyed Ontario-bred to his stirring Plate score, is back in the irons for Tuesday's engagement for Canadian-bred three-year-olds, set for 1 3/16 miles on the Fort Erie dirt surface. Carroll, who won the 2006 Plate with Edenwold and the 2011 edition with the filly Inglorious, won the 2016 running of the Prince of Wales with Amis Gizmo.

Mighty Heart, who will leave from post two, faces Plate rivals Clayton (third in the Plate), Dotted Line (seventh), Tecumseh's War (fourth), and Truebelieve (ninth), as well as Bold Victory, Enchant Me, Muskoka Giant, and Red Victory.

Some of the sport's top experts have delivered their picks (see below) that comprise the Prince of Wales Power Rankings presented by the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. The Power Rankings spotlight top contenders as voted on by expert horseplayers and racing commentators from Woodbine Racetrack and Fort Erie Race Track, including Jeff Bratt, Robert Geller, Ashley Mailloux, Doug McPherson, Jason Portuondo and Monique Vag. The rankings are based on votes following a 5-4-3-2-1 points system for the top five selections.

Should Mighty Heart, whose Plate time of 2:01.98 was the second fastest Plate run since 1957, emerge victorious in the Prince of Wales, it could set up a possible date in the starting gate for the $400,000 Breeders' Stakes, third and final jewel in the Triple Crown Series, set for 1 ½ miles on the world renowned E.P. Taylor Turf Course, October 24 at Woodbine.

The last horse to sweep all three races was Wando in 2003. Bred and owned by the late Gus Schickedanz, and trained by Mike Keogh, the son of Langfuhr garnered front-page coverage in the lead-up and aftermath of his Triple Crown quest.

First race post time on September 29 is 2:10 p.m., with the Prince of Wales scheduled for approximately 5:37 p.m. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Fort Erie Race Track will be closed to spectators. Fans can watch online or tune in to the Canadian Triple Crown broadcast, sponsored by OLG, beginning at 5:00 p.m. on TSN.

FIELD FOR THE PRINCE OF WALES

Post – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Morning Line Odds

1 – Truebelieve – Cole Bennett – Keveh Nicholls – 30-1

2 – Mighty Heart – Josie Carroll – Daisuke Fukumoto – 7-5

3 – Dotted Line – Sid Attard – Justin Stein – 8-1

4 – Red Mercury – Paul Lepiane – Simon Husbands – 30-1

5 – Enchant Me – Santino Di Paola – Luis Contreras – 20-1

6 – Bold Victory – Mark Casse – Patrick Husbands – 12-1

7 – Tecumseh's War – Catherine Day Phillips – Emma-Jayne Wilson – 4-1

8 – Muskoka Giant – Mark Casse – Kazushi Kimura – 12-1

9 – Clayton – Kevin Attard – Rafael Hernandez – 5-2

PRINCE OF WALES POWER RANKINGS PRESENTED BY THE OLG CANADIAN TRIPLE CROWN

Horse – Trainer – Points – First-Place Votes

1 Mighty Heart – Josie Carroll – 27 – 4

2 Clayton – Kevin Attard – 23 – 1

3 Tecumseh's War – Catherine Day Phillips – 18 – 1

4 Dotted Line – Sid Attard – 14 – 0

5 Muskoka Giant – Mark Casse – 4 – 0

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