The 76th running of the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, the 1 3/16-mile dirt race and second leg of Canada’s Triple Crown Series for Canadian-bred three-year-olds, will be held on Sunday, July 17 at Fort Erie Racetrack, with the notable absence of Queen’s Plate-winning filly Inglorious.
The filly, who took both the Woodbine Oaks and the Plate with Woodbine’s leading rider Luis Contreras aboard, will instead contest the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, on August 20.
A field of seven was announced at Wednesday’s post-position draw which was overseen by New York Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi.
Queen’s Plate runner-up Hippolytus, who went to post at 61-1 in the “Gallop for the Guineas” for trainer Mark Casse, has been made the 2-1 morning-line favourite. Tyler Pizarro retains the mount.
Pender Harbour, the 3-1 second choice in the morning line, has picked up Contreras for trainer Mike De Paulo.
“He’s certainly got a lot of confidence. He’s got a real good clock and we couldn’t be happier having Luis aboard,” said De Paulo.
“He’s worked him a bunch of times and he likes the horse. We’re hoping to win this one.”
Pender Harbour had a late start to his 2011 campaign, but the horse is rounding into peak form after a rallying third-place finish in the 1 ¼-mile Queen’s Plate.
“He came out of the race excellent,” said De Paulo. “He had a good five-eighths mile work the other day. He’s never had any trouble on the dirt and he worked well on it when he was a two-year-old. I’m excited that he’s coming to the race in good order.”
Oh Canada, who finished 13th in the Queen’s Plate after racing uncharacteristically close to the pace, will break from the rail.
Trainer Robert Tiller has removed the blinkers from the Proud Citizen-Oh Livia D gelding and recruited Fort Erie-based jockey Krista Carignan to ride.
Carignan hopes to provide an inside edge for her charge in the Prince of Wales.
“Our turns are a little bit tighter so an inside trip can be a little more beneficial, whereas at Woodbine it’s the opposite. Sometimes our track plays a little more to speed,” said Carignan. “It would be awesome to win it. It would be the biggest win of my career and to have it happen at a track that I’m based at would be even better.”
Trainer Mike Keogh sends out two horses, Welloiledmachine and Oban, for the Prince of Wales. The veteran conditioner is no stranger to the ‘Border Oval,’ having won this race previously with 2003 Triple Crown champion Wando.
Keogh expects that Welloiledmachine, the only horse in the field with a trip over the Fort Erie dirt, will be on the engine in the second jewel.
Welloiledmachine finished second in that event to four-year-old Who We Gunna Call.
“We brought him down here and gave him a run over the track just because he’d trained so well on the dirt training track up there (at Woodbine). I thought he ran well, the horse that beat him is an older horse who actually ran in the Prince of Wales last year (finishing seventh),” said Keogh. “He didn’t get beat far by him and he’s still a young horse learning. Looking at it, there’s not a whole lot of speed in it and I think my horse will be up on the pace.”
Oban, a gelded son of Pleasant Tap-Oliva, will appreciate the distance.
“Oban is bred to go all day. I’m really happy with his last work when Emile Ramsammy worked him,” offered Keogh. “He’s not a great workhorse, but the work before last, he and Welloiledmachine went together and worked in a minute and change (1:00.40, July 2) and galloped out in 1:13 and 1.”
Rounding out the field are Bowman’s Causeway and Check Your Soul, who finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in the Queen’s Plate.
The third leg of the Triple Crown, the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, will be held on Sunday, August 7 at Woodbine.
Prince of Wales Field
Post / Horse / Jockey / Trainer / Morning Line Odds
1 / Oh Canada / Krista Carignan / Robert Tiller / 12-1
2 / Pender Harbour / Luis Contreras / Mike De Paulo / 3-1
3 / Hippolytus / Tyler Pizarro / Mark Casse / 2-1
4 / Welloiledmachine / Jim McAleney / Mike Keogh / 15-1
5 / Oban / Emile Ramsammy / Mike Keogh / 12-1
6 / Bowman’s Causeway / Eurico Rosa Da Silva / Chad Brown / 4-1
7 / Check Your Soul / Patrick Husbands / Roger Attfield / 7-2
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
