My Boy Prince could be next Casse star, highlights Simcoe field

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse won last Sunday’s King’s Plate with Paramount Prince. His next Canadian-bred star could be My Boy Prince, who will be favored in Sunday’s $200,000 Simcoe, one of four Tapeta stakes on the Woodbine card for graduates of Canadian yearling sales.

A son of Cairo Prince, My Boy Prince was the $115,000 sale-topper at the 2022 CTHS Ontario Canadian premier yearling sale. The handsome gray ran second to Bolt Enoree at first asking May 21. He put it all together in his last start June 18, when he won a five-furlong maiden special by six lengths with an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.

“We liked him a lot in Ocala this winter,” Casse recalled. “He wasn’t really focused his first race, but he was focused the second race. He ran fast and got a really good Beyer number.”

After a gap in his breezes from late June through July, My Boy Prince has worked twice this month, to Casse’s satisfaction.

“He had a foot abscess,” Casse said.

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Sahin Civaci will ride My Boy Prince again for Gary Barber, a co-owner of Paramount Prince.

Trainer Steve Attard sends out Brave Dancer, who ran fifth on debut before a more focused fourth most recently in another Ontario-sired maiden special/$40,000 claimer under Ryan Munger.

“I was really happy with his first race,” Attard said. “He was on the outside, so of course, he had to break to the right. Ryan said that for the first part of the race, he was just playing around and didn’t care about much. But the last sixteenth of a mile, it’s as though the horse said, ‘Okay, I’m going to run now.’

“The second race, he was well back and just flew home on the outside. I’m expecting him to run well on Sunday, and I think he’ll only get better as the races go longer.”

Trainer Bill Tharrenos entered unraced Stud Muffin in the 6 1/2-furlong Simcoe and Jimmy’s Affair and Get My Drift in the 6 1/2-furlong Muskoka, a $200,000 contest for 2-year-old fillies.

Stud Muffin has been working right along. The son of Good Samaritan breezed five-eighths from the gate in 1:01.60 on Aug. 12 and then dusted company when going five-eighths from the pole in a bullet 1:00 on Aug. 19.

“His works have been good,” Tharrenos said. “Two weeks back, I worked him with Meko Makee from the gate and he was a length back. I was a little shocked because I thought he’d outwork him. But then he came back and outworked two horses after spotting them five lengths. He’s a little immature, but he gets game with other horses. He doesn’t have a lot of speed, but he comes with a good run at the end.”

Jimmy’s Affair rallied inside from sixth to land her 5 1/2-furlong opener against Ontario-sired/$40,000 maidens by 3 1/2 lengths on July 15.

“She’s doing very well,” Tharrenos said. “She’s been very promising all year. She won impressively, but I thought she was going to do it a lot easier. She worked good on Monday.”

Get My Drift finished a distant fourth at 2-1 in her lone outing July 15.

“She’s been training well,” Tharrenos noted. “She’s a little more speedier. I think she’s matured since her last race, where she missed the break. I’m looking for a big race from both fillies.”

El Cohete gets his shot in Elgin

The speedy El Cohete, who never got to run in the $1 million Plate, should be prominent in the $100,000 Elgin for male 3-year-olds.

El Cohete initially got into the body of the 17-horse Plate field before a recalculation of also-eligible Enjoythesilent’s earnings revealed a shortfall. El Cohete was relegated to the also eligibles and then failed to draw in, but is more realistically spotted in the seven-furlong Elgin.

El Cohete graduated second time out in June before placing in back-to-back Ontario-sired allowance routes in July.

“He’s a good-feeling horse,” DePaulo said. “He was always a good work horse. We had a little shin trouble with him last year, but he’s been okay this year. We always thought he could run.”

Rapid Test should be favored in the Elgin off the 85 Beyer he received last out when taking a seven-furlong event for nonwinners of two allowance types and $50,000 3-year-olds. Catherine Day Phillips trains the son of Souper Speedy.

◗ Souper Sinclair and Lady Urus are the protagonists in the $100,000 Algoma, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies.

◗ The 2023 CTHS Ontario Canadian premier yearling sale begins at noon Wednesday with a catalog of 252 at the Woodbine Sales Pavilion.

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