Adena Springs homebred Shaman Ghost, a rallying winner of the 1-million Queen’s Plate, heads a field of seven in the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, to be held on Tuesday, July 28 at Fort Erie Racetrack.
The 80th edition of the Prince of Wales for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds will be televised live on TSN 1,3,4 and 5 from 7:00 – 8:00 pm ET. Post time for the Prince of Wales is set for 7:40 p.m.
Shaman Ghost, trained by Brian Lynch and to be ridden once again by Rafael Manuel Hernandez, is listed as the 7-5 morning line favourite.
At a distance of 1 3/16-miles, the Prince of Wales is the only race in the Canadian Triple Crown Series that is run on a traditional dirt surface. The Queen’s Plate, a 1 1/4-mile ‘Poly’ test is the first jewel of the Triple Crown which is completed by the Breeders’ Stakes, a 1 1/2-mile endurance test over Woodbine’s E.P. Taylor Turf Course, to be held on Sunday, August 16.
Shaman Ghost hauled down Danish Dynaformer inside the sixteenth pole to win a thrilling 156th edition of The Queen’s Plate, Canada’s most famous horse race, by one and one-quarter lengths.
The Ghostzapper bay breezed five furlongs in 1:01.40 over the Woodbine dirt training track on July 21 in preparation for the Prince of Wales.
“He’s come out of the Plate good,” said Lynch. “There’s not a lot you can do between now and then, just the maintenance work in between and hope you’ve got him right. I came up to watch the work and I was happy enough with it to give him the green light to go ahead and run.”
Shaman Ghost has won four times from seven starts including wins on the dirt at Gulfstream and Keeneland.
“He’s been a good horse and showed up at a lot of places he’s never really seen before,” said Lynch, who won the Prince of Wales in 2010 with Golden Moka. “He trained at Palm Meadows and went up to Gulfstream and won. He’d never been to Keeneland and he went there and won. He’s an adaptable sort of horse.”
Roger Attfield, a multiple Hall of Fame trainer, will send out Queen’s Plate runner-up Danish Dynaformer in the 1 3/16 classic as the rivals face each other for the third time in as many starts.
Danish Dynaformer finished a rallying third to Shaman Ghost in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes on May 16, prior to winning the Plate Trial.
“’Danish’ went too soon (in the Queen’s Plate), but that’s race day luck and the good horse (Shaman Ghost) closed on them,” said Attfield.
Danish Dynaformer breezed in company with stablemate Billy’s Star on July 21 covering five furlongs over the Woodbine dirt training track in 1:01 flat.
“They had an easy work. I wanted to see their action on the dirt,” said Attfield of the energetic Dynaformer bay owned by Charles Fipke. “He’s been tearing the place down and in very good shape.”
Attfield has won the Prince of Wales on five occasions, the last coming in 2005 with Ablo. The other winners include Norcliffe (1976), and Triple Crown winners With Approval (1989), Izvestia (1990) and Peteski(1993). Gordon McCann boasts the most Prince of Wales wins by a trainer with seven.
Mark Casse will send out a pair of Prince of Wales starters including Conquest Boogaloo, who completed the Plate triactor, and Canadian Classic newcomer Field of Courage.
Conquest Boogaloo, a dark bay son of Scat Daddy owned by Conquest Stables LLC, has endured troubled trips in each of his last three starts including the Plate, Plate Trial and Grade 3 Marine Stakes.
Shut off at the start of the Plate, Conquest Boogaloo raced from last in a field of 13 before launching a powerful rally down the lane to finish third, defeated just 1 ¾-lengths.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Casse of the colt’s bad racing luck. “We hope a shorter field will help.”
Shaun Bridgmohan will take over from Alan Garcia aboard Conquest Boogaloo for Tuesday’s test.
“Alan rode him well and I’m not blaming him at all,” emphasized Casse. “Shaun missed out with Conquest Curlinate (who was injured before the Plate) and we thought we’d give this horse a different rider. Shaun rides a lot for us so it works out well.”
Field of Courage, a dark bay son of Marchfield, has won three of five starts and will make his dirt debut in the Prince of Wales. Last time out, Field of Courage finished an even fifth in the Plate Trial.
He has trained forwardly over Woodbine’s dirt training track with a trio of swift breezes including a July 12 effort in :58.60.
“It’s something we’ve done successfully in the past, skipping the Plate and pointing to the Prince of Wales,” said Casse, who pulled off the trick with Gallant in 2009 and with Uncaptured in 2013. The veteran conditioner also captured the Prince of Wales in 2012 with filly Dixie Strike, who had previously raced in both the Oaks and the Plate.
Casse is hopeful that the quick works by Field of Courage will translate to the Fort Erie dirt.
“We’ve breezed him a couple times on the dirt and he’s worked extremely well,” said Casse. “He’s been something of an overachiever, as far as the way he trains. I just thought of him as a horse, but he runs much better than you expect him to. Interesting enough, he’s training like a good horse now, so we’ll see how that plays out.”
Breaking Lucky, trained by Reade Baker for Gunpowder Farms, finished a good fifth in the Queen’s Plate after being prominently placed. The Lookin at Lucky chestnut breezed five furlongs over the Woodbine dirt training track in 1:00 flat on July 22. Jim McAleney retains the mount.
Scorch, trained by Mark Frostad for owner Augustin Stable, is a newcomer to the Triple Crown trail. The dark bay Candy Ride colt is still a maiden with three second-place finishes from five starts. Emma-Jayne Wilson will pilot Scorch for the first time.
Cut to the Chase, owned and trained by Nick Nosowenko, boasts a record of 2-1-2 from 12 starts. The dark bay Giant Gizmo gelding arrives at the Prince of Wales from a good third-place run in a 1 1/16-miles optional claiming event against older company. Luis Contreras will ride Cut to the Chase who breezed five furlongs in :59 flat over the Fort Erie main on July 19.
Last year, Coltimus Prime captured the Queen’s Plate with da Silva aboard for trainer Justin Nixon and owner Cabernet Racing Stables.
The Prince of Wales undercard also features the $75,000 Rainbow Connection Stakes, a five furlong turf sprint for Ontario-sired fillies and mares three-years-old and upward.
The Prince of Wales Stakes is slated as Race 8, while the Rainbow Connection will go as Race 4 on Tuesday’s nine-race card at Fort Erie. First post time is 4:00 p.m. Fans can watch and wager on all the action via HPIBet.Com.
FIELD FOR THE $500,000 PRINCE OF WALES STAKES
POST / HORSE / JOCKEY / TRAINER / ML ODDS
1 / Scorch / Emma-Jayne Wilson / Mark Frostad / 12-1
2 / Conquest Boogaloo / Shaun Bridgmohan / Mark Casse / 4-1
3 / Field of Courage / Eurico Rosa da Silva / Mark Casse / 8-1
4 / Shaman Ghost / Rafael Manuel Hernandez / Brian Lynch / 7-5
5 / Danish Dynaformer / Patrick Husbands / Roger Attfield / 9-5
6 / Breaking Lucky / Jim McAleney / Reade Baker / 6-1
7 / Cut to the Chase / Luis Contreras / Nick Nosowenko / 15-1
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
