King and His Court happy to be home for Wando Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Reigning Canadian champion male 2-year-old King and His Court will lock horns with Queen’s Plate winterbook favorite Tiz a Slam in Sunday’s $100,000 Wando Stakes for 3-year-olds at Woodbine.

King and His Court capped his busy 2-year-old campaign with victories in the restricted Coronation Futurity and the open Display Stakes, which were his first two starts for trainer Mark Casse.

King and His Court wintered in Ocala, Fla. He was never in the hunt when returning from a layoff Feb. 11 in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and also was beaten by double-digit lengths most recently in the Grade 3 Spiral over Turfway’s Polytrack.

Gary Boulanger was aboard for each of King and His Court’s last four outings.

“The Sam F. Davis was an experiment on the dirt,” Boulanger said. “He’d worked well on the dirt at the farm, but he came out of the gate like he had no intention of running. He never grabbed me, ever. Personally, I think he doesn’t like shipping. At Turfway, they shipped him early. It was the same thing – he had no interest in coming out of the gate.”

Boulanger said King and His Court has thrived since returning to Woodbine in April.

“He’s doing great,” Boulanger said. “When I worked him out of the gate the other day, he didn’t break good but then got into a groove and outworked a pretty decent maiden. I was really happy with the way he went. He’s starting to show some life again. I’m looking for a positive race in the Wando.”

A field of six was drawn for the 1 1/16-mile Wando, which is a prep for the $1 million Queen’s Plate here July 2.

KEY CONTENDERS

King and His Court, by Court Vision
Last 3 Beyers: 40-60-72

◗ His other Tapeta races included third-place finishes in both the Grade 3 Grey and Colin stakes.

Tiz a Slam, by Tiznow
Last 3 Beyers: 84-78-85

◗ Trained by Roger Attfield, the 2016 Cup and Saucer Stakes winner mounted a four-wide bid to finish a close fifth in his March 11 season opener in the one-mile Columbia Stakes at Tampa. He has competed strictly on turf since graduating at first asking on the Tapeta, but Chiefswood Stable general manager Robert Landry said the homebred can handle any footing.

“He’s always trained well over every surface,” Landry said. “Roger trains on the Tapeta all the time, and he’s always handled it.”

Montu, by Dialed In
Last 3 Beyers: 76-70-74

◗ The Kentucky shipper won three of his last four starts at Turfway, including the Rushaway Stakes, which contained two next-out winners.