Top King's Plate finishers moving on to Prince of Wales

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The top four or five finishers from Sunday’s King’s Plate at Woodbine could all contest the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

Trainer Mark Casse could run the top two finishers in the $1 million Plate, Paramount Prince and Elysian Field, along with stakes-placed Stayhonor Goodside, who bypassed the Plate, a 1 1/4-mile Tapeta stakes.

“I’m looking at running the three of them,” said Casse, who has won the Prince of Wales four times.

Trainer Mike DePaulo was delighted with Stanley House’s closing third under Javier Castellano from post 1 in the huge 17-horse field. He said the son of Army Mule is probable for the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales with an equipment change.

“I might put a set of blinkers on him, just to try to get him a little closer to the pace,” said DePaulo, a two-time winner of the Prince of Wales. “I think I can get Javier to come back on a Tuesday, maybe. He’s worked good on the dirt.”

DePaulo was undecided regarding the next race for Cool Kiss, who finished a wide seventh in the Plate. El Cohete was relegated to the also-eligible list in the Plate, and DePaulo said the speedy gelding will run in Sunday’s $100,000 Elgin Stakes, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old graduates of Canadian yearling sales.

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Trainer Kevin Attard, who has won the Prince of Wales twice, plans on running the Plate fourth-place finisher Velocitor and Tiburon, who hasn’t started since ending up seventh behind victorious Paramount Prince in the Plate Trial Stakes on July 23.

Trainer Ted Holder sent out Kaukokaipuu to finish a dull 15th after a wide journey in the Plate, in his first start since ending up second in the Grade 3 Marine on July 1. He said the colt does the bulk of his training on dirt and he’s pointing him to the Prince of Wales.

“It was very uncharacteristic of him not to show any speed and only run five-eighths,” Holder pointed out.

Touch’n Ride was a sneaky-good fifth in the Plate in just his third career start, after a troubled and wide trip over the rail-friendly surface.

Trainer Layne Giliforte said a decision is pending on whether Touch’n Ride will go to the Prince of Wales. The son of Candy Ride is a half-brother to Neepawa, who took the third leg of the Triple Crown, the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’ Stakes on the turf here in 2018. This year’s $400,000 Breeders’ is scheduled for Oct. 1.

“I think the horse ran tremendously,” Giliforte said. “To still show the ability that he did to be fifth, after racing in tight and getting checked a little and getting bumped down the backside, I’m thrilled with the horse.

“He came out of the race great. The Breeders’ has always been the race that we were looking at because of his pedigree and stamina, and the way he’s been on grass. We’ll let the horse tell us.”

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