Stablemates My Boy Prince and Victory Achieved Face Off in Kennedy Road
Mark Casse trainees My Boy Prince and Victory Achieved will meet again, this time in the $200,000 bet365 Kennedy Road Stakes (G2), for three-year-olds and up, Saturday at Woodbine.
A five-year-old son of Cairo Prince out of the Silent Name mare Hopping Not Hoping, graded stakes and multiple stakes winner My Boy Prince returns to Woodbine after nine races at various racetracks throughout the US, a stretch that included victories in the Turf Dash Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in February, a Grade 2 score in the Shakertown Stakes at Keeneland in April, and his most recent triumph, a rallying head win over Victory Achieved in the Van Clief Stakes at Colonial Downs in August.
“What an amazing horse,” said assistant trainer Kathryn Sullivan. “And talk about a horse who is getting better with age. We had pre-entered him and Victory Achieved in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. They were both on the also-eligible list and didn’t make it in, so we had this race as his backup. It’s tough when they are on the AE list because they will draw to the outside, but we know they always run a huge race wherever it is and whatever the circumstances are.”
Owned by Gary Barber, the 2023 Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s Champion Two-Year-Old Colt has crafted a record of 10-6-2 from 29 starts, along with $1,611,425 in purse earnings. My Boy Prince’s résumé also includes victories in the 2023 Cup and Saucer Stakes, a third in that year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, three consecutive stakes wins in 2024, a runner-up finish in the 2024 King’s Plate, and a win in the 2025 Elusive Quality Stakes.
“He can make you stress a bit because you think, ‘How can he come from way back there and win?’” said Sullivan. “But he finds a way to do it, and that’s how he’s been throughout his career. He likes to run at the back early and then he is able to produce this fantastic late kick.
“I look back to the Van Clief, where he won by a head over Victory Achieved and I wouldn’t have thought either one of them had a chance to win at the top of the stretch, but they ended up right there together at the wire. They were both amazing that day.”
Bred in Ontario by Murray Graham Smith, My Boy Prince was the $115,000 sale-topper at the 2022 CTHS Canadian Premier Yearling Sale.
“What can you say about him that probably hasn’t already been said?” said Sullivan. “Every barn in our operation that he has been in throughout his career, he’s always been a favourite of everyone’s.”
Ivan “Billy” Forde is the groom.
Victory Achieved rolls into the Kennedy Road off a three-length triumph in the Nearctic (G3T), which earned the five-year-old son of Street Sense out of the War Front mare Lady of Victory his first graded badge.
“It was a stellar field and the way he did it was so impressive,” said Sullivan. “He likes to be close to the pace, but he doesn’t necessarily have to be on the lead. If he’s on the lead, he’s won from there and if he’s sitting off it, he can win that way as well. It’s nice to have that balance and he certainly does.”
Fashioning a record of 5-4-1 from 14 starts, Victory Achieved, who won three straight races at Woodbine in the fall of 2024, has recorded $343,097 in career purse earnings. A homebred for Live Oak Plantation, the bay gelding is 2-3-0 over his past five starts, all in 2026.
“This has been a wonderful year for him – he’s just been so consistent,” said Sullivan. “He’s another one who goes over and gives you that 100 per cent effort. You always know what to expect.”
For Sullivan, having two top contenders clash in a graded stakes is a plus. “It’s always a good thing to have horses in these types of races. You have two horses who are very competitive and very talented. That is such a wonderful thing to have. Obviously, you want them both to win, but the most important thing is that they are each able to run the race that suits them and they get a chance to run an uncomplicated race.”
Dennis Miller is the groom.
Multiple graded stakes winner Nobals, who won the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Kennedy Road, will look to join Pink Lloyd as the only three-time winner of the race. The son of Noble Mission (GB) is 13-7-4 ($2,001,162) from 36 starts for trainer Larry Rivelli and owner Patricia’s Hope LLC.
Fast facts: Kennedy Road raced 45 times with 17 wins, 12 seconds, and three thirds. In 1973, he was named Canada’s Horse of the Year. He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2000. His notable victories include the Grey Handicap (1970), Queen’s Plate (1971), Dominion Day Handicap (1972), San Antonio Stakes (1973) and Hollywood Gold Cup (1973). Bob Tiller has the most Kennedy Road Stakes wins (6) by a trainer.
Wagering menu for the Kennedy Road: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / 0.20 Superfecta / $1 Swinger.
Field for the Grade 2 Kennedy Road
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – G T Five Hundred – Christoff Douglas – Dale Desruisseaux
2 – Arbiter – Pietro Moran – Wesley Ward
3 – My Boy Prince – Fraser Aebly – Mark Casse
4 – Nobals – Walter Rodriguez – Larry Rivelli
5 – Victory Achieved – Rafael Hernandez – Mark Casse
6 – War Strategy – Sahin Civaci – Mike Wright, Jr.
7 – Ready to Collect – Keveh Nicholls – Roger Broomes
Z Z’s winning Race 10 on August 16, 2026 at Woodbine (Michael Burns Photo)
Z Z’s looks to march away with Majorette win
Z Z’s, trained by Josie Carroll for Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck) and Andrew Rosen, will face seven foes in the $125,000 Majorette Stakes for three-year-old fillies, Saturday at Woodbine. A daughter of McKinzie out of the Tapizar mare Zarmant, Z Z’s arrives at the six-furlong main track engagement sporting a mark of 2-1-0 from six starts.
In her most recent effort, the bay was fifth in the Sophomore Stakes, a 6 ½-furlong test over the Woodbine main track on Oct. 10. One race earlier, Z Z’s, under Fraser Aebly, powered to an eight-length romp at the same distance and over the same surface on Aug. 16.
Aebly, who has already posted career-best numbers in 2026, will be in the irons again this weekend.
“The race she won by eight lengths was impressive for a lot of reasons,” said Aebly, who has 119 wins this year, including 15 stakes victories (six graded), 13 at Woodbine, two at Fort Erie. “She was very much in control of her tempo in the early part of the race, very confident and going along easily. When we got to the head of the lane, she was still cruising. She just kept on with it and ran strong right to the wire. Really impressive all the way around.”
Bred in Kentucky by Willow Oaks Stable, Z Z’s won first time out, taking a 5 ½-furlong turf race by five lengths at Ellis Park on July 26. She stepped up to the stakes ranks in the next start and finished sixth, only three lengths behind the winner, in the Untapable at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 7. After a fifth, 2 ¾-lengths back of top spot in her next race, a 5 ½-furlong sprint at Churchill Downs on June 12, she returned to Woodbine where she has made her past three starts.
Aebly, who has combined with Carroll to win three stakes races in 2026 – the pair are 3-2-6 from 15 starts in the category this year – is looking forward to reuniting with Z Z’s. “We got along well in that race and hopefully we can do it again on Saturday. Josie and her team always have the horses at the top of their game, so I’m looking forward to this one for sure.”
Z Z’s was a $185,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale.
Carroll will also send out Bells of Paradise. Bred and owned by Mark Dodson, the daughter of Yaupon out of the Verrazano mare Sister Nova is 1-1-0 from three starts.
Wagering menu for the Majorette: Includes Rolling Double / Exacta / 0.20 Trifecta / .20 Superfecta / 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 9-10-11) / $1 Swinger.
Field for the Majorette
Post – Horse – Jockey – Trainer
1 – Bells of Paradise – Christoff Douglas – Josie Carroll
2 – Spa Prospector – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
3 – Meilani – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
4 – Charmingly Evasive – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Mark Casse
5 – Happy Destination – Romero Ramsay Maragh – Mark Casse
6 – Classic Move – Ryan Munger – Mark Casse
7 – Piper’s Gift – Pietro Moran – Dale Desruisseaux
8 – Z Z’s – Fraser Aebly – Josie Carroll
More News
