Taylor's New Providence Swept Canadian Triple Crown

When Larry Cordes' Ontario homebred Mighty Heart lines up for the 129th Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine Oct. 24, the one-eyed son of Dramedy could become the 13th—and the first in 17 years—winner of the Canadian Triple Crown. The Canadian Triple Crown emulates its south-of-the-border compatriot: the Queen's (King's) Plate Stakes (Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, G1) at 10 furlongs, the Prince of Wales Stakes (Preakness Stakes, G1) at 1 3/16 miles, and the Breeders' Stakes (Belmont Stakes, G1) at 1 1/2 miles but on turf. First run in 1860, the Queen's Plate is the oldest extant stakes in North America; the Breeders' Stakes came along in 1889, and the relative new kid on the block, the Prince of Wales Stakes, appeared in 1929. However, the Canadian three were not officially regarded as a Triple Crown—the earlier winners have been retroactively regarded as Triple Crown winners. Appropriately, the winner of the first official Canadian Triple Crown, New Providence, was a homebred from Canada's leading breeding establishment, E. P. Taylor's Windfields Farm. Coincidentally, anyone with $10,000 and a willingness to take a chance on a bay colt by Bull Page out of One Thousand Guineas Trial winner Fair Colleen (Preciptic) could have owned the Triple Crown winner. Taylor offered him as part of his annual yearling sale at Windfields Farm in 1957. Those lots that went unsold, Taylor raced. Trained by Gordon "Pete" McCann, New Providence showed some promise as a 2-year-old. Certainly hardy by today's standards, he started 13 times with just two wins—albeit one was the Cup and Saucer Handicap—but 10 placings that included the Coronation Futurity. The maturity from 2 to 3 fused the promise and experience of New Providence's juvenile season into a classic contender. He came into the 100th anniversary of the Queen's Plate with a single victory in five starts. However, his previous effort had been a half-length runner-up effort to the highly regarded Major Flight in the Plate Trial at Old Woodbine. The third-largest field in the race's centennial history, 20 horses, assembled June 30. Under the expert guidance of U.S. jockey Bobby Ussery, New Providence had drawn the 18 post for the 10-furlong trip. Eighth through the first four furlongs, Ussery had moved his mount within striking distance with four furlongs remaining. By the time the field had reached the eighth pole, Ussery had not only claimed the lead, he extended it to four lengths midstretch and held on to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Major Flight and Winning Shot. Six weeks later, the Canadian classic show moved to Fort Erie for the Prince of Wales Stakes. With jockey Avelino Gomez employing the same stalk-and-pounce tactics from the Queen's Plate, New Providence waited to make his move after a mile to sail through the stretch to a four-length win. Caroming into the Breeders' Stakes after defeating older rivals in the Seagram's Cup Handicap, New Providence was the 3-10 favorite in the winnowed field of five for the last jewel of the crown. Gomez once again employed New Providence's preferred style of running to coax a 1 1/2 length victory over his five rivals. In addition to his Triple Crown, New Providence also made an impact at stud. Among his important stakes horses is Canadian Oaks winner South Ocean, whose Northern Dancer European champion son Storm Bird sired multiple leading sire and broodmare sire Storm Cat. New Providence is not the only Triple Crown winner from the Windfields sale. English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky II is a 1968 alum.