Piper's Factor takes next step toward King's Plate in Marine Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Piper’s Factor got back on the beam in his last breakout race and will take another step toward the Aug. 17 King’s Plate in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Marine for 3-year-olds at Woodbine.

Piper’s Factor is trained by Katerina Vassilieva, who won the 2022 Marine with Rondure. A Chiefswood Stables homebred, Piper’s Factor placed in both the Coronation Futurity and Grade 3 Grey at 2 before wintering at Palm Meadows. He finished far back in sixth in his Feb. 3 comeback on the dirt at Gulfstream Park before ending up fifth there a month later on Tapeta in another allowance.

“I feel as though we lost a little momentum after his last race at Woodbine as a 2-year-old,” Vassilieva said. “We tried the dirt with him in Florida, and that experiment didn’t go well. He didn’t seem to like the surface. He ran a decent race on the [Tapeta] next time out. We were hoping for more, but it was nice to see him get back into form at Woodbine in his most recent start.”

Off a two-month break here May 12, Piper’s Factor trounced older allowance opponents going the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Marine while earning an 85 Beyer Speed Figure under Kazushi Kimura.

“I like how he was able to relax and come off the pace,” Vassilieva said. “He sat patiently, waited, and finished very nicely. He showed some maturity in the race, and that was what we were looking for.”

The Marine drew three other nominees to the $1 million King’s Plate, including the Mark Casse-trained duo of Essex Serpent and Midnight Mascot.

Essex Serpent won his April 27 debut here before finishing second to his stablemate and last year’s champion male 2-year-old, My Boy Prince, in the seven-furlong Queenston Stakes. The son of Honor Code is bred to run on.

“He [wants to go] as far as they write them,” Casse said.

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Midnight Mascot won his April 28 comeback in the six-furlong Woodstock Stakes before finishing a distant third in the seven-furlong King Corrie Stakes behind My Boy Prince, who is bypassing the Marine while waiting for the Plate Trial Stakes on July 20.

Kentucky shipper Cameo Performance should be well-backed while going back on Lasix following a dull race in his stakes debut in the Audubon at Churchill Downs. He just missed in his lone synthetic start at 2 in Ireland before being transferred to trainer Brendan Walsh.

Selene Stakes

Casse sends out a pair – last year’s Canadian champion 2-year-old filly in Witwatersrand and Golden Ghost – in the $150,000 Selene, a Grade 3 test for 3-year-old fillies that he’s won nine times and in each of the past six years.

Witwatersrand won the Grade 3 Mazarine at 2 over the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Selene. After two poor performances in Florda, she romped in the seven-furlong Ruling Angel Stakes with a 93 Beyer here May 18.

Sabatini finished second in the Ruling Angel after graduating in the Star Shoot Stakes. The daughter of Uncle Mo is stretching out with a stamina-oriented pedigree and should be a speed threat.

Dominion Day

After taking the Grade 2 Eclipse from far off the pace here June 1, the streaky Palazzi goes for his second stakes win in a row for Casse in the Grade 3 Dominion Day. He got good around this time last year before tailing off in the fall and was freshened after a disappointing winter campaign that consisted of a trio of graded stakes at Sam Houston and Fair Grounds.

“It didn’t surprise me at all to see him pop and run well,” Casse said. “When we went to Sam Houston, it rained for two days. It was a bog. The rider had him down on the rail, and he never had a shot. Then, we ran him in New Orleans. Tyler Gaffalione started to make a run and he clipped heels and almost went down. He was going to be right there. The last time I ran him in New Orleans, he kinda just went around there and the turf had some give to it.”

Normally a front-runner, Paramount Prince, the 2023 King’s Plate winner, tracked stablemate Get Smokin in second en route to finishing third in the Eclipse. Casse was content with the performance.

“He ran really good,” Casse said. “Obviously, I didn’t want my two horses running head and head. Get Smokin went to the lead. I thought Paramount Prince handled that very well.”

Tyson, Canada’s 2023 champion older male on the main track, edged Paramount Prince for second in the Eclipse in his first start in seven months.

The new shooter in the field is Stanley House, who skipped the Eclipse after clearing the second allowance condition off a long layoff here May 17. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him post a mild upset.

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