One-eyed Mighty Heart pulls away late to win Queen's Plate

Heading around the far turn in the $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine, it appeared to be anyone's race. Mighty Heart was in the lead, but was being chased closely by several others, including race-favorite Clayton.

After the second turn, the race was quickly decided as Mighty Heart pulled away to win by eight lengths in a dominant effort in the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Trained by Josie Carroll, the one-eyed son of Dramedy out of Emma’s Bullseye, by City Place, earned his first stakes victory in the race, after finishing third in a Woodbine allowance race on Aug. 1 in his last start.

“He’s just a very exciting horse,” Carroll said after the race. “He’s come a long way for [owner and breeder Lawrence Cordes] who’s had a lot of confidence in him from the start.”

Jockey Daisuke Fukumoto was aboard for the race. It was his first Queen’s Plate victory and Carroll’s third.

"Unbelievable,” said Fukumoto, making his first Plate start. “I can't explain...he's feeling good today, he bolt good. I saw that nobody [was leaving] so I just sent him and he just kept going. After the wire, he still kept going, he didn't stop there.

"He only has one eye, but he’s got a big heart, a mighty heart," Fukumoto addded.

Splits for the 1 1/4-miles Queen's Plate on Tapeta were:23.57, :47.61, 1:12.70 and 1:37.50. The winning time was 2:01.98.

Mighty Heart returned $28.50 for the win.

The $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, a 1 3/16-mile race over Fort Erie’s dirt oval, is the next race in the tri-surface Canadian Triple Crown series, which winds up with the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes at 1 ½ miles on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.

Wando, in 2003, was the last horse to sweep the series and the seventh since its inception in 1959.