Prince of Wales winner Tone Broke eyes Oklahoma Derby

While it’s possible Prince of Wales Stakes winner Tone Broke returns for the third leg of Canada’s Triple Crown, the Aug. 17 Breeders’ Stakes back at Woodbine runs over the turf. And Tuesday’s victory earned after a commanding run through the Fort Erie stretch showed connections there could be bigger goals ahead on the main track.

“It obviously looks like he’s a dirt horse,” said Michael Levinson, manager of L and N Racing. “But we’ll just see where everybody falls — who goes where.”

The “ultimate goal” for Tone Broke is Remington Park’s Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sept. 29.

“He’s won twice there and ran a nice fourth in the Springboard (Mile),” Levinson said. “I think that’s an obvious spot for him.”

In the meantime, Tone Broke, a son of Broken Vow purchased as a yearling for a mere $40,000, is expected to return to Steve Asmussen’s Kentucky string to continue training.


The Ontario-bred followed his run in the Springboard Mile by shipping overseas to Dubai’s Meydan Racecourse with other Asmussen runners. Connections had hoped their colt would excel going in the longer type of dirt races that aren’t offered until later in the season in the U.S.

Tone Broke ran sixth in a non-stakes event, then finished 14th in the March 9 Al Bastakiya, a potential audition for the UAE Derby (G2).

“We just thought we’d go over there and take a shot for a lot of money,” Levinson said. “It didn’t work out for whatever reason. He was just a different horse over there.”

Tone Broke hasn’t finished out of the money in three starts since, returning to be second to King for a Day in Pimlico’s Sir Barton Stakes. Of course, that rival went on to defeat Maximum Security, while Top Line Growth, another from the race, was later placed atop the Iowa Derby running order.

Tone Broke then swiped favored Skywire at the start of the June 29 Queen’s Plate. He finished third, and the result stood. But connections opted to take blinkers off for the Prince of Wales to prevent another incident at the gate.

And finally, on Tuesday evening under jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., Tone Broke sat a comfortable third of five, in the clear, before called upon at the top of the stretch. He drove past Avie’s Flatter and the Queen’s Plate winner One Bad Boy with relative ease.

“He’s really long, leggy — big, big horse,” Levinson said. “It looks like he’s going to be better as he gets older.”

Whether it’s in the Breeders’ Stakes or elsewhere, Levinson expects one race for Tone Broke between now and the Oklahoma Derby, a race Asmussen first won in 2017 with Untrapped.