Trainer Kevin Attard to run four horses in $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes event

It's not as prestigious as the real thing but an unofficial Canadian Triple Crown would still be a significant accomplishment for Kevin Attard.

Attard will send four horses postward Tuesday in the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Racetrack. Missing from the field, though, will be Attard's King's Plate-winning filly Caitlinhergrtness, who's taking a break after running three times over seven weeks.

"Obviously, it would be very special,' said Attard, who won his first Plate in 2022 with Moira, another filly. "These are classic Canadian races.

"Hopefully one day we'll be able to do it with the same horse but anytime you can compete in these races with the best three-year-olds in Canada, there's a lot of significance to that. Year in and year out, we're striving to have that calibre of horse."

Attard has won the Prince of Wales three times, including last year with Velocitor. Wando remains the last horse to win the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, doing so in 2003.

Four years ago, trainer Josie Carroll completed the unofficial Triple Crown sweep with multiple horses. She earned wins in the Plate and Prince of Wales with one-eyed colt Mighty Heart before stablemate Belichick captured the Breeders' Stakes as Mighty Heart finished seventh in his Triple Crown quest.

In 2011, Luis Contreras became the first jockey to sweep the Canadian Triple Crown with different horses. He captured the Queen's Plate with filly Inglorious and won the Breeders' Stakes and the Prince of Wales Stakes on Pender Harbour.

Midnight Mascot is the early 5-2 Prince of Wales favourite. Midnight Mascot is trained by Mark Casse — 16 times Canada's top conditioner — and will be ridden by Kazushi Kimura.

Midnight Mascot headlines the 10-horse field which will feature five that ran in the $1-million King's Plate on Aug. 23 at Woodbine Racetrack. Midnight Mascot finished third in the Plate.

Pierre is the 4-1 second pick (ridden by American David Cohen) ahead of Jokestar (9-2 odds, jockey will be Emma-Jayne Wilson). The Attard-trained horses were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Plate although Pierre was ridden by apprentice jockey Pietro Moran.

"I was very pleased with their races in the King's Plate, I thought both performed well," Attard said. "I think shortening up in distance (1 3/16 miles Tuesday compared to 1 1/4 miles in the Plate) is going to be a benefit for Pierre so I'm looking forward to that with him.

"I also believe both should appreciate the dirt, Jokestar more so because his line has a lot of proven dirt runners. We're anticipating him to step up a little bit more on the dirt and I think if he does, it puts him right in the hunt."

Attard's other Prince of Wales horses will be Bedard (10-1, ridden by Sahin Civaci) and filly Airosa (15-1, ridden by Rafael Hernandez), both of whom didn't run in the Plate. Bedard was scheduled to race but was a late scratch.

"They definitely have freshness as an asset," Attard said. "Airosa has been working tremendously on the dirt.

"I'm kind of excited to see her perform on it and hoping what I see in the morning is going to transpire in the afternoon."

Midnight Mascot will be one of two Casse-trained horses in Tuesday's race. The other is Essex Serpent, which ran 10th in the Plate with veteran jockey Patrick Husbands aboard.

Husbands — who rode Wando to the '03 Triple Crown — will be on Essex Serpent on Tuesday. Casse has four career Prince of Wales victories.

"Midnight Mascot obviously has to be respected, he has run well," Attard said. "But I wouldn't discount Essex Serpent.

"I thought he was the horse to beat in the Plate. If there's a horse that worries me the most I'd think that would be that one."

Fortunately, it appears weather won't be a huge factor Tuesday, with the forecast calling for a high of 21 C and just a 10 per cent chance for rain. The latter is always a factor on a dirt track.

The final jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown is the $400,000 Breeders' Stakes, a 1 1/2-mile grass event slated for Sept. 29 at Woodbine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press