King's Plate: Canadian Triple Crown kicks off with field of 17

Seventeen sophomores, including Woodbine Oaks winner Elysian Field and Plate Trial victor Paramount Prince, both trained by dual hall of famer Mark Casse, will contest the $739,150 King’s Plate, first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, on Sunday at Woodbine.

The 164th edition of King’s Plate, North America’s oldest continually run race, is contested at 1 1/4 miles on the Woodbine Tapeta and is the first event in the three-surface series for Canada-bred 3-year-olds.

Wando was the last horse to accomplish the feat, in 2003, while becoming the seventh to record the unique triple. The Prince of Wales, run at 1 3/16 miles on the dirt at Fort Erie on Sept. 12, is the second leg. The Breeders’ Stakes, at 1 1/2 miles over the turf course at Woodbine on Oct. 1, concludes the series.

This is the first time since 1951 that the race will be run as The King’s Plate, in keeping with the tradition of naming the race after the ruling British monarch.

The fillies Elysian Field and Wickenheiser each will carry 121 pounds, and all other starters carry 126 pounds.

Cool Kiss is one of three Mike De Paulo trainees. The others are Stanley House and El Cohete. The dark bay is 8: 2-2-0. Emma-Jayne Wilson, who won the 2007 Plate with Mike Fox, gets the call.

“We had a partnership years ago called Super Six Stable,” De Paulo recalled. “One of the horses in the stable was a mare called Hot Kiss. She was a hard-knocking filly who won the Trillium Stakes (G3) and second in the Maple Leaf (G3). We decided to breed her and her first foal, Repeat the Heat, was a nice horse. Cool Kiss is the second one. He’s a character. His mother was a lunatic. This horse, the first time we went to run him, I’m in the finish-line bar at Woodbine and I hear there is a scratch in the race, number 5. I thought, ‘OK, one less horse for us to go up against.’ And then I realized that was Cool Kiss. He dropped Emma under the tunnel. But here they are, back together again.”

El Cohete has posted a top-three finish in three of his four starts, including a maiden-breaking performance over 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf June 15. He was third in his most recent race, at 1 1/16 miles over the Tapeta, on July 30.

“He’s a good-feeling horse,” De Paulo said. “He’s always been a good work horse. We had a little shin trouble with him last year, but he’s been OK this year. We always thought he could run. Hopefully, he shows that again on Sunday.”

Elysian Field, trained by dual hall of famer Mark Casse, heads into the Plate off a sterling score in the Woodbine Oaks. Owned by Team Valor International and Gary Barber, she has a record of 6: 2-2-0.

“Coming into a race like this, some horses are thriving and getting better, and that would describe her,” said Casse, who won the Plate with fillies Lexie Lou in 2014 and Wonder Gadot in 2018.

Kalik, trained by Chad Brown, will make the Plate his first start in Canada. He won three straight starts, all turf, from March to June of this year, including the Pennine Ridge Stakes (G2) on June 3. The chestnut is 6: 3-1-0.

“With Chad, you know the horse will be in top condition coming into the Plate,” said jockey Kazushi Kimura. “To be in the King’s Plate is amazing. The race has so much history. You can feel the excitement building and I hope that we can say we won the first King’s Plate since 1951. I know I have a big chance with this horse."

Kaukokaipuu has been a model of consistency for trainer Ted Holder. The colt has a record of 11: 2-7-0, including a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Queenston Stakes over the Tapeta on June 11.

“His pedigree says that it is not a problem," Holder said of the Plate distance. “Mr Speaker was a mile-and-a-quarter to mile-and-a-half horse on all surfaces, and he is out of a granddaughter of Radiant Ring who is tested at the classic distances in the early to mid-'90s.”

Midnight in Malibu, trained by Sid Attard, sprung a 32-1 upset in his most recent race, a 1 1/16-mile route over the Tapeta and has a record of 5: 2-0-0. The dark bay colt broke his maiden over one mile and 70 yards on the Tapeta last December.

“I think he’ll go the distance no problem,” Attard said. “Every time we work him five or six furlongs, he gallops out strong.”

Moon Landing, trained by Kevin Attard, won at first asking, the victory coming at Woodbine over 6 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta and has a record of 6: 1-0-1 from six starts.

“He really dug down deep in the late running and just missed getting it all,” Attard said of Moon Landing’s third-place effort in a 1 1/16-mile Tapeta race on July 23. “We’re hoping that he’s able to build off that last race and show the type of skill that he does have.”

Trained by Renico Lafond, Morstachy’s was a recent $40,000 claim and has a record of 11: 1-3-2. The bay won in his final start of 2022, a 4 1/4-length triumph at 6 1/2 furlongs over the Woodbine Tapeta. The gelding has finished in the top three in four of his last five races.

“His closing speed would be his best attribute to this race, he has an eye-catching turn of foot,” Lafond said. “He is not a big horse, but he covers ground immensely.”

Paramount Prince heads into The King’s Plate off a wire-to-wire, five-length performance in the Plate Trial on July 23. The gelding trained by Casse is 5: 2-2-1.

“After the race, he kept going, he galloped out a good mile-and-a-quarter so I don’t think the distance (for The King’s Plate) would be an issue for him,” Casse said of the Plate Trial. “And I think Patrick (Husbands, jockey) let him do it too because we knew down the road, he’s going to have to run a little farther.”

Canada’s champion 2-year-old male Philip My Dear, trained by Kevin Attard, is 7: 3-0-2. Last year, he won the Soaring Free and Cup and Saucer, both contested on the turf.

“He’s had a tough start this year, but I think he’s starting to round into the form that helped earn him a Sovereign in 2022,” Attard said.

Silent Miracle, 5: 3-0-1, will test out the stakes ranks for the first time in the Plate. Trained by John Mattine, he notched consecutive wins starting last December in his 2-year-old finale over 6 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta, before a victory at seven panels on the same surface in his 3-year-old debut this May.

“I think he’ll get the distance,” Mattine said. “I asked (jockey) Ryan Munger after his last race if he had anything left in the tank and he said yes.”

Stanley House is 7: 2-3-0 from seven starts. Trained by Mike De Paulo, he recorded back-to-back runner-up finishes to start his career in fall 2022. His maiden victory came at Gulfstream Park on March 25 at 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta. Javier Castellano, aboard for that milestone win, will be in the irons again Sunday.

“I liked him when we bought him,” De Paulo said of the $120,000 purchase at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale. “It was a bit of a gamble because he is from a first-year sire and the first foal out of the mare, so you were basically just looking at an athlete. We had him broke in Ocala with Mike Cooke and he liked him all along. Any time this horse did something, he did it well. He’s always had a lot of class and showed ability in every work he had.”

Touch‘n Ride has made only two starts, but both efforts produced pleasing results. After a third to launch his career on July 1, where he rallied impressively in the one-mile turf race, the bay was even better next time out. Sent off at 9-2 in the 1 1/16-mile Tapeta race July 30, the gelding romped to a 5 1/4-length score.

“He’s been training well,” trainer Layne Giliforte said. “My feeling is that we have a fresh horse and fresh legs. Distance and fitness shouldn’t be an issue.”

Twin City, trained by Stuart Simon, brings a record of 8: 2-4-1 into the Plate. He took the King Corrie this May, a nose win in the seven-furlong Tapeta race. The bay will be ridden by Gary Boulanger.

“A good quality of his, which will certainly help with the big crowds and all the fanfare on Sunday, is his laid-back demeanor,” Simon said. “He’s a pretty cool customer, which is a nice quality to have. We’re thrilled to have him in The King’s Plate.”

Bred, owned, and trained by dual Hall of Fame conditioner Roger Attfield, who is tied with Harry Giddings Jr. for the most Plate wins by a trainer with eight, Twowaycrossing has run four of his six races on the turf. He won at first asking last October over seven furlongs on the turf and is 7: 2-0-0.

“I think he is turning around now, but he’s not going into the Plate how I would normally go into a Plate,” Attfield said.

Velocitor has a mark of 8: 3-1-1 for trainer Kevin Attard and won two straight races, including last year’s Coronation Futurity at 21-1. The gelding finished second in his debut last May before a 7 1/2-length romp at the same distance and over the same surface, five furlongs on the Tapeta, next time out in June.

“I was really thrilled with the way he kept on battling to the wire,” Attard said of Velocitor’s fourth in the Plate Trial on July 23. “I thought it was a nice effort from a horse who has certainly shown he is capable of running a big race.”

Wickenheiser, 6: 1-2-0, finished a rallying second to Plate rival Elysian Field in the Woodbine Oaks on July 23. She is trained and co-owned by Kevin Attard, who sent Moira out to an Oaks-Plate double last year.

“We made the decision to name this horse after Canadian hockey great Hayley Wickenheiser,” Attard said. “And as this filly has shown in her career, she’s the ultimate competitor. She has been in every race over her career, and her two efforts this season have been really encouraging.”

First post for Sunday is 12:25 p.m. EDT with the featured King’s Plate scheduled as race 10 at 5:39 p.m.