Shaman Ghost leads Prince of Wales nominees

Queen’s Plate winner Shaman Ghost headlines the list of eight nominees for the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown at Fort Erie on July 28, and it appears the field could have anywhere from five to seven runners come entry day on Friday, pending any supplements that could enter.

Trainer Brian Lynch had also nominated Unbridled Juan to the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales, but said he will only be taking Shaman Ghost with him to Fort Erie.

“[Unbridled Juan] won’t be running,” Lynch said. “I put him in there just in case something happened to have the bases covered.”

Shaman Ghost is scheduled to breeze on Woodbine’s dirt training track on Tuesday morning in preparation for the Prince of Wales. Lynch said Shaman Ghost has come out of the Queen’s Plate in good order and should handle the dirt after recording two victories on the surface earlier this year.

“I’m comfortable running him on the dirt and I’m comfortable running him at the distance,” he said. “If we’re happy with the way he works, everything should move forward from there. Even though it’s going to be a small field, I still feel like it’s going to be a very competitive field.”

Joining Shaman Ghost as Prince of Wales probables are Conquest Boogaloo and Field of Courage, both of whom are trained by Mark Casse. Conquest Boogaloo was a troubled third in the Queen’s Plate on July 5, while Field of Courage was fifth in his most recent start, which came in the Plate Trial Stakes on June 7. Casse said Field of Courage has been working well on the dirt training track at Woodbine recently.

“He’s had two really good works,” he said. “I was there for the first one and he worked phenomenal that day. He came back and he worked really well on the dirt again. [On Sunday] we just went easy with him on the Polytrack. But you can work on the dirt all you want and until you run on it, you never know.”

Casse said he may also supplement Oakton to the Prince of Wales. Oakton finished sixth in the Queen’s Plate after also being supplemented to that race.

Breaking Lucky, who finished fifth in the Queen’s Plate for trainer Reade Baker and owner Gunpowder Farms LLC, is also on track for the Prince of Wales. Also expected to run is Scorch for trainer Mark Frostad and owner Augustin Stable. Scorch most recently finished fourth in a maiden special weight on Queen’s Plate Day. Both he and Breaking Lucky have experience racing on dirt at Gulfstream Park over the winter.

Trainer Roger Attfield said Sunday morning that he was unsure as to whether he would run Queen’s Plate runner-up Danish Dynaformer or fourth-place finisher Billy’s Star in the Prince of Wales. Of the two, Attfield said Billy’s Star was more likely to run in the Prince of Wales, while Danish Dynaformer will likely be pointed to the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes on the turf at Woodbine on Aug. 16.