Mansetti looks to end win drought in allowance
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mansetti, last year’s King’s Plate winner, will try to end his slump in Friday’s featured conditioned allowance over seven furlongs at Woodbine.
Mansetti led all the way with the aid of an inside bias in his memorable 2025 King’s Plate score, after which he ran second to upstart Runaway Again in the Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie.
Mansetti subsequently ran second in Grade 3 Ontario Derby before capping his campaign with a non-effort at Keeneland in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Cup. He won Sovereign Awards as Canadian Horse of the Year and champion male 3-year-old.
In May, Mansetti checked in second behind 2023 King’s Plate victor Paramount Prince in his season opener before coming up empty in another seven-furlong conditioned allowance. Off another layoff Aug. 1, he faded to sixth after a troubled and wide trip in the Grade 3 Seagram Cup.
Cutting back from a route to seven furlongs most recently in the Grade 3 Vigil, Mansetti rallied outside for second behind pacesetter Heavy Pour over a track that favored speed and inside runners. He matched a career-high 89 Beyer Speed Figure in the Vigil.
Pietro Moran will ride Mansetti again for trainer Kevin Attard and owners Al and Bill Ulwelling, who purchased the son of Collected for a bargain $40,000 as a juvenile.
Four others will be looking to upset Mansetti – Wagstaff, Fighter in the Win, Twin City, and Lucky Score.
Wagstaff wound up third behind Borealis Trail and Mansetti in the 2025 Ontario Derby. He started just once this year, in the Sept 12 Vigil, finishing third after a stalking trip along the inside following a nine-month break.
Jose Campos will get a leg up on Wagstaff from trainer Devon Boreland, who has inherited the training duties from the recently deceased Nathan Squires.
Fighter in the Win figures to set what should be an uncontested pace. He outran the favored Laskay for the lead Aug. 30 in a seven-furlong first-level allowance and never looked back, scoring by daylight with a breakout 88 Beyer.
This will be Fighter in the Win’s third race off a layoff, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him make all the running under Keveh Nicholls for trainer Richard Morden.
Twin City has been in a tailspin this year, but the 6-year-old was only beaten 4 1/4 lengths when a non-threatening sixth in the Vigil. He was competitive at this level in the past and could wake up with Romero Maragh riding for trainer Stuart Simon.
The durable and classy 8-year-old Lucky Score should be running at the end. A two-time graded stakes winner, Lucky Score closed for third in his May 23 seasonal bow and finished a belated fourth off another layoff most recently in another race at this level. Fraser Aebly retains the mount on Lucky Score for the meet’s perennial leading trainer, Mark Casse.
Post time for the eight-race card is 1:05 p.m.
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