Filly favoured in Prince of Wales Stakes
Queen’s Plate winner Wonder Gadot 7-to-5 morning line favourite
Queen’s Plate winner Wonder Gadot is the morning-line favourite to capture the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown thoroughbred racing triple crown as well.
The three-year-old filly, owned by Gary Barber and trained by Mark E. Casse, will start the 83rd Prince of Wales Stakes Tuesday night at Fort Erie Race Track from post position one.
Wonder Gadot was installed as the early favourite, at 7 to 5, to become the first filly to win the signature race on the Fort Erie racing calendar since Dixie Strike in 2012.
The last Queen’s Plate winner to also set the pace in the Prince of Wales was Wando in 2003, also the most-recent Triple Crown winner.
Queen’s Plate runner-up Aheadbyacentury drew post position five and Absolution, the third-place finishers, post position two, in a draw held Friday at the Fort Erie track.
Aheadbyacentury, morning line, 5-2; is owned Jack of Hearts Racing and J.R. Racing Stables Inc. and trained by John A. Ross.
Along with jockey Luis Contreras, that connection formed the trifectra that rode Cool Catomine into the winners circle at the Prince of Wales Stakes last year.
Contreras is seeking his third Prince of Wales in a row. He was also in the saddle for Amis Gizmo’s victory in 2016.
Morning line for Absolution, Polo Management Services, owner; Tony Michael Gattellaro, trainer; Rafael Hernandez, jockey; is 6-1.
Rounding out the six-horse field for the $400,000 stakes race are Cooler Mike, post position three, Mike and Nick Nosownko, owner; Nicholas Nosowenko, trainer; Jesse Campbell, jockey, 4-1; Home Base, post position four, Patricia’s Hope LLC, owner; Michael A. Tomlinson, trainer; Joseph Rocco Jr., jockey, 8-1; and Eskimzin, post position six, Jecara Farms Corp., owner; Carlos Grant, trainer; Sheena Ryan, jockey, 12-1.
Home Base shipped in from his home base in Kentucky and has been has been in Fort Erie this week getting used to the track’s dirt racing surface.
“We put some pretty solid work in him before he came up, but we have had him out on the track to stretch his legs a little bit and he handles it well,” assistant trainer Dennis Fries said.
Two-time Prince of Wales winning jockey Constant Montpellier was the draw master for Friday’s event.
This year’s Triple Crown wraps up Saturday, Aug. 18, with the Breeders’ Stakes on the turf course at Woodbine.
Woodbine also hosted the Queen’s Plate on June 30.
The Prince of Wales, a 1 3/16mile race on dirt for Canadianbred three-year-olds, will be televised from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday on TSN 1, 3, 4 and 5 as part of the Canadian Triple Crown broadcast sponsored by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.