By Gene Kershner

Copyright buffalonews

FORT ERIE – The Canadian Triple Crown is still in play.

Only once in the past 22 years has a horse claimed the first two legs of Canada’s Triple Crown, the last being Mighty Heart in 2020, who then faltered in the final leg.

In most years, the first-leg winner of the Plate at Woodbine will skip the second leg due to the surface switch or more lucrative races elsewhere.

This year’s King’s Plate winner Mansetti (2-1) is favored to head back to Woodbine with the first two legs in tow seeking history in the Breeders’ Stakes on Sept. 28.

The last horse to capture Canada’s Triple Crown was Wando in 2003.

Fort Erie Race Track will be the site of the second jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown on Tuesday afternoon where a group of seven will look to capture the racetrack’s most lucrative race of the year.

The restricted $400,000 race for 3-year-old Canadian-bred horses is the only one in the Canadian classic series that is run over a dirt surface.

In addition to Mansetti, five horses who ran in the Plate on Aug. 16 will return to try and defeat him at the border oval located just across the Peace Bridge from downtown Buffalo.

A good omen for Mansetti was that he handled the dirt track well in a workout this past Tuesday with regular rider Pietro Moran aboard the son of Collected. The only other horse to work out over the surface was Faber (5-1) who clocked the same time going four furlongs as the Plate winner.

“It’s a different surface but I don’t think it will matter with him because he’s such a talented horse, he doesn’t seem concerned,” said Moran.

After the workout, the 20-year-old Moran was asked about his colt’s shot at glory.

“You definitely need a special kind of horse if you want to have a shot at the Triple Crown, and I think we’ve got one here with Mansetti. We’ve already got one race out of the way, now we’re looking for the second, and he’s got a great chance, so we’ll see what happens.”

American owners Al and Bill Ulwelling of Elk River, Minn., will try and capture their third Prince of Wales after Haddassah (2021) and Velocitor (2023) gave them their first two winners.

Kevin Attard trains the morning line favorite and will also send Faber and Dewolf (7-2) to post seeking his third career Prince of Wales.

First post at the border oval will be at 1 p.m., the 90th running of the Prince of Wales is scheduled to go to post at 5:35 p.m. as Race 9 of the 10-race card. The Prince of Wales will be contested over 1 3/16 miles, the same distance as the Preakness in the American Triple Crown’s second leg.

There are four other listed stakes on the program, all in sequence leading up to the big race.

Let’s look at the field from top to bottom (post position, trainer, jockey, morning line odds in parentheses, Race 9, post time is 5:35 p.m.):

Looking at these past performances for the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, here are my capsule summaries:

1 – Faber (Kevin Attard, Sahin Civaci, 5-1). A consistent performer who’s been knocking on the door in graded company. Closed late to sixth in the Plate after bumping at the break and steadying late. Shows tactical speed and had a solid workout at Fort Erie. The surface switch from all-weather to dirt could benefit this versatile runner. If a battle on the front end between the favorite and Scorching occurs, look out for the gelded son of Improbable coming late to pick up the pieces. The “other Attard” is the upset pick.

2 – Runaway Again (Sid Attard, Ryan Munger, 10-1). Lightly raced gelding with just two starts, including a disappointing 10th-place finish in the Plate after breaking his maiden impressively. The sharp workout pattern suggests he’s ready to bounce back. Has breeding to handle the distance and could offer value at the price underneath.

3 – Mansetti (Kevin Attard, Pietro Moran, 2-1). The Plate winner and morning line favorite was impressive winning Canada’s Most Famous Race leading most of the way and finishing up in a handride. Likely will face a bit more pressure early than he did in the Plate where he was left on the lead and took the group of 13 around the Woodbine Tapeta. He’s proven he can handle the distance and is the clear class of the field. The one to beat.

4 – Scorching (John Charalambous, Dylan Davis, 3-1). Big news for the son of Mo Town is he gets NYRA circuit rider Dylan Davis back in the irons. Davis rode him to a close second behind Mansetti in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes in June. Finished fourth in the King’s Plate after pressing the pace early but in a wide position. Should appreciate the slight cutback in distance from the Plate and would love to sit a perfect trip stalking the favorite.

5 – Ashley’s Archer (Mark Casse, Patrick Husbands, 10-1). Trainer Mark Casse has won this race four times, but not since 2018 with Gallant. Was disqualified out of a listed stake at Woodbine and has shown flashes of ability. Finished dead last in the Plate but draw a line through that effort. Has some experience on dirt but would have to be a career best effort to make any noise.

6 – Humber River (Robert Tiller, Sofia Vives, 12-1). A recent allowance winner moving up significantly in class. This gelded son of Frac Daddy has been competitive at lower levels but faces a major step up here. The morning line odds reflect his outsider status in this company. Vives will be riding in her first Prince of Wales for trainer Bob Tiller.

7 – Dewolf (Kevin Attard, Rafael Hernandez, 7-2). Finished a decent fifth in the Plate and has been competitive in graded stakes. Won the Bull Page Stakes on turf last year and shows tactical versatility. The surface switch to dirt is the main question mark for this consistent performer. Similar to Faber, he’ll be coming off the pace to take a shot at the leaders late and could easily catch a piece of the exotics.

Post Time Outlook: 1 – Faber; 2 – Mansetti; 3 – Dewolf; 4 – Scorching.

Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets on X, @EquiSpace.