Safe Conduct, Riptide Rock not nominated to Prince of Wales Stakes
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Just nine horses were nominated to the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds going 1 3/16 miles on Sept. 14 at Fort Erie.
Safe Conduct and Riptide Rock, the top two finishers in the $1 million Queen’s Plate on the Tapeta, were not nominated, with their connections citing the dirt surface as the reason.
Trainer Kevin Attard nominated H C Holiday, Harlan Estate, and Haddassah, who finished third, seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Queen’s Plate on Aug. 22.
“We might breeze them all on the dirt and see how they work over it,” Attard said.
Attard sent out Alezzandro to win the 2007 Prince of Wales for Knob Hill Stable.
A dirt work also could be determining factor regarding Keep Grinding’s status for the Prince of Wales, according to owner Joshua Attard. Keep Grinding mounted a bold stretch bid to challenge Safe Conduct for the lead in the Plate, only to falter late and end up fifth.
Curlin’s Catch is the lone nominee with any dirt racing experience. After earning her diploma in January at Gulfstream, the daughter of Curlin took the $100,000 Suncoast Stakes going a mile and 40 yards on Feb. 6 at Tampa. She went on to finish a well-beaten fifth in both the Grade 2 Davona Dale and the Grade 1 Ashland.
Curlin’s Catch’s trainer, Mark Casse, has won the Prince of Wales four times, including with the fillies Wonder Gadot and Dixie Strike.
The other nominees are Plate Trial winner Avoman, who wound up sixth in the Plate, Desert Eagle, Ready At Dawn and Tidal Forces.
Secret Reserve, a dominant winner of the Elgin Stakes on Aug. 29, and stakes-placed Artie’s Storm have been ruled out as possible supplements to the Prince of Wales by their trainers.
“He’ll run on anything,” said Secret Reserve’s trainer, Mike Mattine. “It’s just too close.”
Trainer Paul Buttigieg said Artie’s Storm is headed for the $125,000 Toronto Cup Stakes on the grass Sept. 12.
Rogue Affair returns on turf
Rogue Affair returns from a freshening in Sunday’s featured first-level allowance and should be prominent throughout the 1 1/4-mile turf event.
Coming off a nine-month layoff July 3, Rogue Affair was squeezed at the break before going on to beat nonwinners-of-two rivals, a race that contained two next-out winners, most notably Avoman.
Rogue Affair has posted just one interim work, a bullet five-eighths in 59 seconds here Aug. 14, but the 4-year-old has probably been working at owner Chiefswood Stable’s farm as well. The only time he competed on turf – in his debut in 2020 at Fort Erie – he crushed maiden special weight rivals by 7 1/4 lengths.
Steven Bahen will get a leg up from trainer Layne Giliforte on Rogue Affair, a son of stamina sire Lemon Drop Kid.