Coltimus Prime unlikely to go in Breeders' Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Justin Nixon said Wednesday that Prince of Wales Stakes winner Coltimus Prime is unlikely to start in the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes on grass at Woodbine on Aug. 17.

“I think we’re going to pass, just because the colt ran very well on the dirt,” Nixon said. “He’s also won on Poly, and I just don’t know if we want to venture into unchartered waters on turf. He’s never run on turf before, although he has breezed on it. I think we’re going to stick with what’s been to his liking.”

Nixon said the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Northlands on Aug. 16 is a longshot for Coltimus Prime because of the travel issues associated with shipping to Alberta. Possible spots for him in September include the Grade 3 Ontario Derby here and the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx.

“We’re not ruling anything out at this point,” Nixon said. “We’re enjoying the victory and looking down the road a little at all the 3-year-old races – synthetic at home and dirt in the U.S.”

With Eurico Rosa Da Silva aboard, Coltimus Prime made all the running in Tuesday’s $500,000 Prince of Wales at Fort Erie, winning the 1 3/16-mile route by 3 1/2 lengths over the Parx invader Lynx while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 93.

“We had company on the outside with Lynx, but he didn’t really push us too hard through the first three-quarters, and we kicked clear down the lane,” said Nixon, who is based at Woodbine. “Being there for a week and getting a breeze over the track might have helped us a little bit as well.”

Coltimus Prime banked $300,000 for his first stakes score for the partnership of Michael Weingarten and Jayson Horner, who bred the son of Milwaukee Brew. They compete as Cabernet Racing Stable.

Coltimus Prime flashed some speed before fading to finish ninth in the first Triple Crown leg, the July 6 Queen’s Plate on Polytrack. Nixon, who began his training career at Fort Erie in 1996, said winning the Wales is at least as important to him as a victory in the $1 million Plate would have been.

“It means a whole big bunch because [Fort Erie] is where I started out,” Nixon said. “I spent so much time at the Fort and basically learned all about Thoroughbred racing there.”