Wonder Gadot likely to chase Eclipse Award, not Triple Crown

Following Wonder Gadot's Tuesday evening victory in Fort Erie's Prince of Wales Stakes, trainer Mark Casse didn't rule out running the filly Aug. 18 in Woodbine's Breeders' Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown series. But it appears the original goal -- to chase an Eclipse Award -- will be a priority.

Wonder Gadot added blinkers two starts back and took Woodbine's Queen's Plate in impressive fashion. Under jockey John Velazquez, she switched back to dirt for the Prince of Wales and won on her first start over a sloppy surface. The Breeders' Stakes is back at Woodbine going 12 furlongs on turf.

Wando, in 2003, is the last horse to sweep the Canadian Triple Crown.

“It's a longshot, but we still want a shot to be champion 3-year-old in North America," Casse said. "By going a mile and a half on the grass, it just doesn't really fit in to what we're trying to do. Right now, she’s running on the dirt and going a mile and an eighth, a mile and three-sixteenths and a mile and a quarter.

"To go a mile and a half on the grass…in all honesty, her least preferred surface in my opinion is the grass.”

Casse said Saratoga's Grade 1 Alabama Stakes, also on Aug. 18, is the more likely next race spot.

Wonder Gadot ran to within a half length of the 3-year-old filly division's distant leader, Monomoy Girl, in the May 4 Kentucky Oaks. If all goes according to plan, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro will get a rematch again going 1 1/8 miles at Churchill Downs, this time in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

“We'll probably try to go to the Alabama and then the Distaff," Casse said. "We know she likes Churchill Downs, so that's definitely something we're going to point for as well."

Monomoy Girl has won the Grade 1 Acorn and Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks since her score at Churchill Downs. Parx's Sept. 22 Cotillion is on the radar for that filly as a prep for the Breeders' Cup, while running Wonder Gadot in the Alabama could mean a meeting with dominant Delaware Oaks winner Red Ruby, among others.

“I have the utmost respect for Monomoy Girl and she'll be tough, but if anybody can beat her I think we can," Casse said. "We're not giving up."

Should Wonder Gadot continue her Triple Crown quest, she'd aim for Canada's 13th sweep. Justify became America's 13th Triple Crown winner as well this year. The U.S. and Canada have never had Triple Crown winners in the same year.