Gallant Wins the Prince of Wales Stakes
Milwaukee Appeal Second With Eye of the Leopard Third
Jul 14, 2009
The 74th running of the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes for 3-year-olds foaled in Canada was held July 12 at Fort Erie Racetrack in Fort Erie, Ontario. The first jewel of the Triple Crown was the mile and a quarter Queen’s Plate, held June 21 on the Polytrack at Woodbine in Toronto and won by Eye of the Leopard.
Milwaukee Appeal the 7-5 Favourite
The pre-race favourite was the filly Milwaukee Appeal. She had finished third behind the A.P. Indy colt Eye of the Leopard and Mr. Foricos Two U in the Queen’s Plate after winning the Woodbine Oaks two weeks prior.
Trainer Scott Fairley said he thought the dirt would not be a problem for the bay daughter of Milwaukee Brew.
“I thought she worked very well (on it),” he said prior to the race. “She seemed to bounce across the track very nicely.”
Second choice was Eye of the Leopard, owned the famous Sam-Son Farms and ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva. Trainer Mark Frostad said the colt worked well on the dirt and that the distance would not be an issue. American jockey Mike Smith was back to ride Mr. Foricos Two U, who ran an excellent race in the Queen’s Plate, losing by inches. In contrast, Gallant came into the race fresh after skipping both the Plate Trial and the Plate.
Battle to the Wire in the Prince of Wales Stakes
The Oaks winner was in front for a first quarter in a leisurely :24 4/5. Flip For the Coin briefly took over, but the filly was having none of that and regained the lead before Gallant, ridden by Corey Fraser for the first time, challenged and edged in front.
The two raced next to each other as the half went in a slow :49 on a dirt track listed as fast. Eye of the Leopard and Mr. Foricos Two U were farther back in fourth and fifth. The order remained unchanged after six furlongs of the 1-3/16-mile event.
The long stretch gave fans a thrilling finish. Eye of the Leopard made his move, inching closer with every stride, but he ran out of ground. Gallant and the filly reached the wire together, and it appeared there might be a dead heat. Fraser and Milwaukee Appeal’s rider, Stewart Elliott, had to wait to see who got the nod.
In the end, stewards decided that Gallant, at 15-1, got his nostril in front to win by a couple of centimeters. Fraser said he knew he had a lot of horse under him, but when Gallant and the filly hit the wire side by side, he was not sure which horse had won.
“I hit the wire and it was just like a dream,” said Fraser, a Niagara Falls native. “It was too wild.” He thanked trainer Mark Casse for giving him the ride.
“He’s been just unbelievable to me over the past couple of years,” he said. As for Gallant, he said, “I’ve never had a horse love the dirt like this!”
Gallant Sired By Aptitude
Casse was at Woodbine, so the grey son of Aptitude—Quintessa, by Touch Gold, was saddled by assistant Rickey Griffith. The colt is owned by Woodford Racing LLC and was bred in Ontario by Robert Costigan.
Eye of the Leopard, the 9-5 second choice, was a half-length back in third. Keino West, despite an awkward start, was fourth, followed by a disappointing Mr. Foricos Two U and Flip for the Coin. The final time was 1:56.74.
The third jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown is the 1-1/2-mile Breeders’ Stakes on Woodbine’s turf course on August 2.
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