King and His Court triumphs as Display favorite
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The favored King and His Court proved his Coronation Futurity triumph was no fluke by doubling up in dramatic fashion in the $145,050 Display Stakes on Saturday at Woodbine.
Under a patient ride from Gary Boulanger, King and His Court got away slowly and trailed early in the 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-olds. Flowmotion set moderate fractions, and was joined up front by a four-wide Vanish on the far turn.
King and His Court was stalled in traffic on the outside on the far turn. After finding room in the stretch, he kicked in strongly to prevail by 1 3/4 lengths over Flowmotion, as Vanish weakened to fourth. All three are trained by Mark Casse.
Guy Caballero was beaten just two lengths while ending up third in the 10-horse field. The final time was 1:45.10.
“He got bumped by [Vanish], who broke out into him,” said Boulanger. “From there, I was just trying to save as much ground [as possible]. I had a tight, tight trip the whole way. I was in between horses, boxed in. He showed a lot of character today, and a lot of try. He’s not scared of anything. Turning for home, he saw some clear daylight. I shook [the whip] at him one time, and he exploded and ran by them pretty handily.”
A son of Court Vision, King and His Court ($5.30) earned $90,000 for Wachtel Stable and Gary Barber, who won the Nov. 13 Coronation Futurity with him after purchasing him privately earlier this fall.