King's Plate winners top their respective stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The last two King’s Plate winners will compete on Saturday’s outstanding Woodbine card, but not against each other. Caitlinhergrtness goes the 1 1/4-mile Plate distance in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf and Paramount Prince will try to wire the field over 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 2, $175,000 Autumn.

Fresh off winning last Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf with Moira, trainer Kevin Attard sends out Caitlinhergrtness and Fashionably Fab in the $135,000 Maple Leaf.

Caitlinhergrtness improved by leaps and bound after being shipped to Attard in the spring. She won a July 6 allowance on the inner turf, two weeks before a neck loss in the Woodbine Oaks. She ran down favored My Boy Prince late to take the Plate in dramatic fashion, after which she got a break.

Returning to action on the grass in the Oct. 12 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, Caitlinhergrtness inherited the lead before fading to third while holding on for some valuable Grade 1 black type.

“The plan wasn’t to be on the lead,” Attard said. “We thought there were going to be a couple of horses that were going to show a little speed, and we’d sit behind them. To be honest, she looked really comfortable out there. She was running really easy, within herself, so I’m not going to make that as an excuse. I thought she ran really well. It wasn’t a bad performance. It’s going to be interesting to see her run back on the Tapeta, against older horses.”

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Caitlinhergrtness is going back on Lasix and drew the outside post in the 13-horse field. She has Canadian champion 3-year-old filly honors sewn up, while Fashionably Fab is the front-runner for champion older female on the main track. “Fab” has won two Grade 3, 1 1/16-mile stakes on the Tapeta this year, and Attard believes she can stay the 1 1/4 miles.

“She’s versatile,” Attard explained. “If it’s a race that lacks pace, then you can expect her to be a little closer.”

Millie Girl won last year’s Maple Leaf, which helped her to secure divisional honors. After beginning the meet in fine form, she has missed the board in her last two outings, both over giving turf in Grade 2 company.

“I think she’s a stronger horse than last year,” trainer Catherine Day Phillips said. “The last two starts she struggled with the going, so I’m happy to see her back on the all-weather track.”

Blueberry Fields has the look of a live longshot. The late-blooming 6-year-old cleared the first two allowance conditions under Justin Stein before closing for third in the 1 1/16-mile Ontario Matron in September. Trainer Brandon Greer likes her chances over an extended distance.

“The jockey brought it up before even I did,” Greer said.” So, I think everybody’s on board that this is something she could thrive at, although it will be a tough race.”

Autumn Stakes

The Mark Casse-trained 4-year-old Paramount Prince has won two graded stakes this year and is the divisional leader for champion older male on the main track. The speedster was pressed through fast middle fractions along the inside over an outside-biased track before fading to fifth in the Sept. 28 Durham Cup Stakes.

Casse is also running the versatile Irish import Tosen Wish in the 12-horse Autumn Stakes.

Dresden Row should be among the favorites. He notched his first stakes in the Grade 3 Durham Cup for trainer Lorne Richards before doubling up in the Grade 3 Ontario Derby. He should be a Sovereign Award finalist for champion male 3-year-old.

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“He was kind of a nervous horse and is just maturing now,” Richards said. “He seems to be getting good at the right time. Ideally, I’d like to have a little more time between races, but he’s only run four times this year. We haven’t pushed him hard. There’s still something left in the tank.

“I think he’s maybe eligible to improve a little bit more than some of the others.”

Attard entered Ontario Derby runner-up Bail Us Out and turf expert Never Surprised, who is experimenting on the Tapeta after working a bullet half-mile in 46.60 on Oct. 27.

“He’s always worked really well over it,” Attard said.

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