Mighty Heart takes Triple Crown step in a wet Prince of Wales

Rain is in the forecast for Tuesday's running of the 85th Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Race Track, where Queen’s Plate winner Mighty Heart continues his pursuit of the Canadian Triple Crown.

After a dominating 7 1/2-length triumph 2 1/2 weeks ago at Woodbine, the colt bred and owned by Lawrence Cordes and trained by Canadian Hall of Fame inductee Josie Carroll was installed as the 7-5 morning line favorite.

Daisuke Fukumoto, who rode the one-eyed Ontario-bred to his stirring Plate score, is back in the irons for Tuesday’s engagement for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, set for 1 3/16 miles on the Fort Erie dirt surface. Carroll, who won the 2006 Plate with Edenwold and the 2011 edition with the filly Inglorious, won the 2016 running of the Prince of Wales with Amis Gizmo.

Mighty Heart, who will leave from post 2, faces Plate rivals Clayton (third in the Plate), Dotted Line (seventh), Tecumseh’s War (fourth), and Truebelieve (ninth), as well as Bold Victory, Enchant Me, Muskoka Giant, and Red Victory.

Should Mighty Heart, whose Plate time of 2:01.98 was the second fastest Plate run since 1957, emerge victorious in the Prince of Wales, it could set up a possible date in the starting gate for the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, third and final jewel in the Triple Crown Series, set for 1 1/2 miles on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine on Oct. 24.

The last horse to sweep all three races was Wando in 2003. The son of Langfuhr was bred and owned by the late Gus Schickedanz and trained by Mike Keogh.

Post time for the first race Tuesday Sept. 29 is 2:10 p.m. EDT, with the Prince of Wales scheduled for about 5:37 p.m. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Fort Erie Race Track will be closed to spectators.