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Mighty Heart Earns Decisive Victory in Prince of Wales

The final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown is the Breeders' at Woodbine Oct. 24.

Mighty Heart wins the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie

Mighty Heart wins the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie

Michael Burns

The U.S. Triple Crown may no longer be in play, with Tiz the Law  and Authentic  each having won a leg in this COVID-19-altered year, but the elusive prize is still possible in Canada.

Racing Sept. 29 at Fort Erie, Mighty Heart followed his victory in the Queen's Plate at Woodbine with a decisive 2 1/2-length triumph over Clayton in the CA$400,000 (US$299,163) Prince of Wales Stakes. Now, just one leg remains in the series for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds: the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine Oct. 24.

Only seven horses have won the Canadian Triple Crown since the Prince of Wales became a fixture at Fort Erie in 1959, the most recent being Wando in 2003.

Lawrence Cordes' Mighty Heart ran like a horse with the talent to perhaps pull off the triple with his performance on Tuesday. Though he was outsprinted early, in contrast to the Queen's Plate when he led throughout, he was superior when it mattered in the stretch.

After stalking the leaders along the inside in midpack, just a couple of lengths off the pace, he went after a wide-racing Clayton leaving the second of two turns and pulled clear down the lane. Reluctant to charge clear until late, he completed 1 3/16 miles on a fast track in 1:55.59 under Daisuke Fukumoto.

"I'm so happy to win this race. This is one of my favorite races," Fukumoto said.

Clayton, who got the jump on the winner with his second-turn surge while his rival was bottled up in traffic, could not match strides with Mighty Heart in the lane but still finished 5 1/4 lengths in front of Dotted Line in third. Bold Victory was fourth.

Mighty Heart gave trainer Josie Carroll, a Canadian Hall of Famer, her second Prince of Wales after first winning it with Amis Gizmo in 2016. 

Carroll has won every race within the Canadian Triple Crown but never with the same horse. She has also won three Queen's Plates with Edenwold (2006), Inglorious (2011), and Mighty Heart, and she took the Breeders' Stakes with Ami's Holiday (2014).

At 1 1/2 miles on turf, the Breeders Stakes leaves a staying turf challenge after a 1 1/4-mile synthetic test in the Queen's Plate followed by the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales on dirt.

Mighty Heart was well beaten in one prior try on grass, finishing 10th in a March 21 maiden race on turf at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, but during a time in his career when he was still learning how to race. Having lost his left eye when only two weeks old, he showed a tendency to bear out and lose position early in his career.

"We had faith in him from the day he stepped foot on the track—a wonderful animal with an incredible disposition," Cordes said.

Bred by his owner, the colt is a son of Dramedy, winner of the 2015 Dixiana Elkorn Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland at 1 1/2 miles. He is one of three winners out of the City Place mare Emma's Bullseye

"They don't get a lot of opportunities to get this kind of horse, and hopefully they'll have some more," Carroll said of Cordes and his family's small breed-to-race operation.

Video: Prince of Wales S. (BT)