Curlin's Catch looks to give Casse his third Prince of Wales win with a filly

Trainer Mark Casse has a history of winning the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes with fillies, having done so with Dixie Strike in 2012 and Wonder Gadot in 2018 among his four winners in the race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

Casse sends out the filly Curlin’s Catch in Tuesday’s 86th running of the Prince of Wales, second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. The 1 3/16-mile race is run on the dirt track at Fort Erie.

Curlin’s Catch is the lone entrant with any dirt racing experience in the field of eight. After graduating in a one-mile maiden special on dirt at Gulfstream in January, she was a dominant winner of the $100,000 Suncoast Stakes traveling a mile and 40 yards on dirt Feb. 6 at Tampa. She finished a distant fifth on dirt in both the Grade 2 Davona Dale at Gulfstream and Grade 1 Ashland at Keeneland, then returned to Woodbine in the spring.

“She ran against the best around,” Casse said. “She kind of struggled the last race or two [in the U.S], so we gave her a break and sent her to Woodbine. I’m not sure if she likes the Tapeta as much as she likes the dirt.”

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Curlin’s Catch cut back to seven-eighths when third in the Fury Stakes at Woodbine on July 10. She’s been pointed to the Wales since ending up fifth in the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks on Aug. 1. Patrick Husbands rides her for the first time Tuesday.

Curlin’s Catch is the 9-2 third choice on the line, after H C Holiday (5-2) and Keep Grinding (3-1).

In the Queen’s Plate, H C Holiday awaited room at the rear of the field along the inside on the far turn before rallying outside to finish a length back in third. He was previously a closing third in the slow-paced Plate Trial Stakes.

H C Holiday won a maiden race at Woodbine on June 13, but he is considered a maiden because he was disqualified from the victory due to a technical violation regarding Lasix protocols. Luis Contreras, a three-time winner of the Wales, will ride him for trainer Kevin Attard.

Keep Grinding made a four-wide bid to challenge eventual winner Safe Conduct for the lead in midstretch in the Plate, only to tire late to fifth. Kevin’s father, Tino Attard, trains him for Kevin’s son Joshua.

Kevin Attard is also running Harlan Estate and Haddassah, who finished seventh and eighth in the Plate. All the Attard horses worked on the dirt at Fort Erie last Tuesday.

Regarding H C Holiday, Kevin Attard said: “He looked pretty smooth going over Fort Erie’s course. If he runs back to that kind of race like last time in the Plate, he will be tough to beat.”

Trainer Don MacRae sends out Plate Trial victor Avoman, who wound up sixth in the Plate.

The Gail Cox-trained Tidal Forces is adding blinkers off a wide ninth-place finish in the Plate.

Rounding out the field is probable pacesetter Ready At Dawn. On Aug. 9, he wired maiden special rivals on the Fort Erie grass first time off a $15,000 claim by trainer Daryl Ezra.

◗ There are a pair of $80,000 Ontario-sired stakes for 3-year-olds on the 11-race card, the Rondeau Bay for fillies and the Lake Erie for colts and geldings. Post time for the first race Tuesday is 1 p.m.