It was a clean sweep of the two stakes races at Woodbine on July 23 for owner Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse. Just before the team won the 68th Woodbine Oaks with Elysian Field (also owned by Barry Irwin’s Team Valor International), they celebrated the front-running romp in the $150,000 Plate Trial by PARAMOUNT PRINCE (Society’s Chairman – Platinum Steel by Eddington), also owned by Orillia’s Mike Langlois and family.
A sensational debut winner last year when trained by Jamie Attard for Langlois, Paramount Prince finished third in the Clarendon Stakes after a share was sold to Barber. Casse trained the horse in Florida and then sent him out to be second in both starts this year including the Queenston Stakes.
Let go at 11-to-1 in the Trial, Paramount Prince zipped to the lead with jockey Patrick Husbands sitting up high on the chestnut gelding. No other horse wanted to stay with him and he was clear on the backstretch, setting a slow mark of 48.58 for the first four furlongs.
Meanwhile even-money favourite STANLEY HOUSE, trained by Mike DePaulo, was last of 12 into the backstretch, which surprised virtually everyone watching the race.
“I didn’t expect him to be back there,” said DePaulo.
Into the last turn of the 1 1/8 mile Plate Trial, Stanley House began to move four and five wide, catching up to his stablemate Cool Kiss. But Paramount Prince was getting further away, racing clear while the rain came down. He scored by five lengths in 149.99. Cool Kiss was up for second, just edging Twin City and Velocitor. The 2022 Champion 2-year-old Philip My Dear was fifth and Stanley House was sixth.
Paramount Prince was bred by Ericka Rusnak of Nobleton, who has done very well with a couple of broodmares. She bred 2014 Selene Stakes (G3) winner Paladin Bay and in 2017 purchased Platinum Steel, the dam of Paramount Prince, for $25,000 in foal to Kantharos. She sold Paramount Prince privately to Langlois for $21,000. The gelding is just the second horse owned by Langlois and wife Charmaine.
A stakes-placed half-sister to the graded stakes-winning sprinter Army Mule (coincidentally the sire of Stanley House), Platinum Steel has a two-year-old by Souper Speedy named It’s Time to Shine, owned by John Ross.
The Trial result will likely lead to a large field for the August 20 King’s Plate, including Oaks winner Elysian Field.
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
