Mighty Heart is mighty fast
One-eyed colt keeps Triple Crown hopes alive with victory by 2 1⁄2 lengths in Prince of Wales Stakes
Only 12 thoroughbreds have won Canadian racing’s Triple Crown, and none have accomplished the feat since 2003.
They could be getting some fast company in less than a month.
Mighty Heart’s impressive victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes on Tuesday at Fort Erie Race Track improved the one-eyed colt to 2-0 over the first two jewels of the Triple Crown.
He could become the first horse to sweep all races since Wando 17 years ago with a victory in the Breeders’ Stakes next month at Woodbine in Toronto.
Owner Lawrence Cordes didn’t commit to entering Mighty Heart in the Breeders’ Stakes, which is set to run Saturday, Oct. 24, on turf. All Cordes said in his post-race comments was the decision will depend on how the horse comes out of the Prince of Wales Stakes.
That was also the case after Mighty Heart set the pace at Queen’s Plate on Sept. 12, also at Woodbine.
Cordes suggested Mighty Heart, a “wonderful animal with an incredible disposition,” was an “iron horse” coming out of the first leg of the Triple Crown.
“Only 17 days since the Queen’s Plate. We would have preferred four weeks,” Cordes said. “He came back almost like he didn’t race in the Queen’s Plate.”
He called Mighty Heart “one of a kind, one of a kind in a lifetime. This horse is a gift to me, my family and to everyone who loves racing.”
Mighty Heart lived up to expectations as the 4-to-5 favourite heading into the 1 3⁄16- mile race on dirt. He paced the field of nine in 1:55.59, overtaking Clayton and Dotted Line after making his break from the middle of the pack to take the $400,000 purse by 2 1⁄2lengths.
Jockey Daisuke Fukumoto, who also rode Mighty Heart to victory in the Queen’s Plate, played the waiting game to perfection in the second-last race on Fort Erie’s program.
“A couple of horses went to the lead, so I let them go and sat behind them. He can take a little air so I changed up the tactic, and when I asked him at the quarter pole he went on again,” Fukumoto said after the race. “Last time he won very easily, and he did it again today.”
“I knew he was going to finish strong,” Fukumoto said after riding. He’s very strong. He has a good brain.”
The possibility of going for a Triple Crown in little more than three weeks from now on the turf at Woodbine excites trainer Josie Carroll.
“We always wait to see how the horse comes out, that’s the key,” she said.
“He’s a wonderful horse and he gets better every time.”
The track was closed to spectators for the signature event on Fort Erie’s racing calendar as has been the case since the Ontario government allowed the industry to open in June.
However, the loss of on-track wagering didn’t suppress betting interest any. Tuesday’s handle was a record $3,028,600, topping the previous high under Fort Erie Live Race Consortium’s management of $ 2,188,171 when Amis Gizmo won the Prince of Wales Stakes for Carroll in 2016.
Wonder Gadot in 2018 was the last Queen’s Plate winner to finish first in the Prince of Wales Stakes, but the filly did not race in the Breeders’ Stakes.
The Triple Crown is for threeyear-olds foaled in Canada.
“Only 17 days since the Queen’s Plate. We would have preferred four weeks. He came back almost like he didn’t race in the Queen’s Plate.” LAWRENCE CORDES OWNER, MIGHTY HEART