Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Alex
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| Hippolytus, the runner up in the Queen's Plate, will likely vie for favourtism in the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie. Courtesy: WEG / Michael Burns Photography |
News broke earlier this week that Inglorious, who secured an Oaks-Plate double in June, would be skipping the Prince of Wales in favour of the Grade I Alabama Stakes on August 20th at Saratoga. The decision means that the remaining two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown are up for grabs.
The nomination period for the Prince of Wales Stakes closed this past Saturday, with a total of 10 horses nominated. The field is led by the second place finisher in the Queen's Plate, Hippolytus, and Queen's Plate favourite Check Your Soul. Bowman's Causeway, Curgone, Oh Canada and Pender Harbour mark the four other Queen's Plate runners who were nominated to the Prince of Wales.
Newly added to the Canadian Triple Crown trail include Molinaro Remarks, Oban, Welloiledmachine and Wonder Phil.
Molinaro Remarks enters the fray after breaking his maiden on June 15th, securing a front-running victory in the one-mile and one-sixteenth turf event. Molinaro Remarks led from start to finish in that race, scoring the upset at 40-1. Before that win, success was hard to come by for Molinaro Remarks, as he failed to reach the money in each of his four previous lifetime starts.
Oban will look to break his maiden in the Prince of Wales Stakes, coming off of a second place finish in a one-mile and three-sixteenths maiden special weight race on June 22nd. Oban closed well in that race, just missing by a nose. It appears the distance will suit him well but there may be a question about surface. Oban worked five furlongs on the dirt training track at Woodbine on Saturday in 1:00.40.
Welloiledmachine is one of two horses in the field who has raced on a dirt surface before (Bowman's Causeway is the other), but the only one who has ran on the Fort Erie track. Last time out, Welloiledmachine finished second in a non-winners of two lifetime allowance race on June 19th at Fort Erie. In the one-mile and one-sixteenth event, Welloiledmachine took command of the race at the half-mile pole but was caught down the stretch by the eventual winner Who We Gunna Call. Welloiledmachine matched Oban's five furlong work on Saturday, covering the distance in 1:00.40 on Woodbine's dirt training track.
Finally, Wonder Phil enters the Prince of Wales as one of two horses with the most experience in the field (Hippolytus, 10 starts). With 10 starts to his name so far in his career, Wonder Phil broke his maiden in November at Woodbine in a maiden special weight race on polytrack that covered one-mile and one-sixteenth. Wonder Phil hasn't found the winner's circle yet in 2011, but has improved over his three races this season, securing a second place finish in his most recent race on June 24th in a non-winners of two lifetime allowance race.
The draw for the Prince of Wales Stakes will take place next Wednesday, July 13th, beginning at 2:00 p.m. New York Rangers defenseman, and Welland native, Dan Girardi will be the guest drawmaster.
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1 comments:
So Inglorious would have been 3-5 in there, then?
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