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The Canadian Triple Crown, An American Copycat? Part Two

Cinch Magazine, J.L. Orchard

July 12, Prince of Wales Stakes, Fort Erie – Prior to the 74th Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie racetrack, trainer Mark Casse commented on his 15-1 long shot, Gallant, “I might not have the best horse going into Sunday, but I’ve got the freshest.” Whether the horse was good enough to win, “I’m not sure.” It wasn’t exactly a tone of confidence for the horse that skipped the Queen’s Plate to run in the second leg of Canada’s Triple Crown.

As it turns out, Gallant didn’t need anyone’s confidence in order to bring the upset for Queen’s Plate winner, Eye of the Leopard. Although, his victory was only decided by a photo finish with Woodbine Oaks winner, Milwaukee Appeal. Gallant, ridden by Corey Fraser finished Sunday’s race at 1:56.74. Eye of the Leopard placed third in the six horse field.

Prince of Wales Stakes vs. Preakness Stakes – Though considered the least prestigious of the three, the middle jewel is the deciding race for the Triple Crown. If the winner of the first jewel goes on to win the middle leg, the third jewel receives greater media coverage, wagering, and attendance. Whereas, a defeat in the second jewel destroys Triple Crown hopes for another year.

While the Preakness Stakes has had a long and illustrious 134 race career, the middle jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown has been in existence for a mere 74 years. But neither race weathered the tears of time like the Queen’s Plate and Kentucky Derby.

In 1870, the Dinner Party Stakes ushered the opening of the Pimlico Race Course in Maryland. The winning horse was a strapping colt named Sandford’s Preakness. Two years prior to the start of the Kentucky Derby, in 1873 Pimlico welcomed a stakes race limited to 3-year-olds. The race was titled the Preakness Stakes.

With 2,000 more people attending than attended the inaugural Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes assumed startling success in its first years. But the phase didn’t last. In 1889, complications in the racing industry forced Pimlico temporarily closed, sending the Preakness Stakes to Morris Park. In the years of separation, the Preakness Stakes was shifted to Gravesend Track, also in New York. Unfortunately, the race was skipped completely three times within those years leaving it with one fewer races run than the Kentucky Derby. In 1909 the Preakness Stakes was reinstated at Pimlico where it has been held ever since without interruption.

Canada’s middle jewel opened 56-years after the Preakness, and 69 years after the inaugural Queen’s Plate. But that opening race at Thorncliffe Park, Toronto, June 3, 1929, marked the beginning of Canada’s greatest racing trilogy. Fittingly named Lion Hearted, the winner went on to victory in the Breeders’ Stakes, becoming the first horse to champion the Canadian Triple Crown.

Come the 1930’s, the Grade 1 Prince of Wales Plate joined the Queen’s Plate and Breeders’ Stakes in regulating that all entries be Canadian foaled 3-year-olds, but for whatever reasons, the race was skipped seven times and failed to be run consistently until 1947.

By 1953 the race was renamed the Prince of Wales Stakes and six years later moved to the picturesque Fort Erie racetrack where it has been the track’s premier race ever since.

Fillies have been highlighted in both races’ with at least 53 fillies having attended the Preakness Stakes, and 5 having championed it. Much like the Queen’s Plate, fillies have been common in the Prince of Wales Stakes with two stellar fillies, Victory Arch and Filsis, finishing first and second in the 1949 race. Undoubtedly the most popular filly to win is the 1991 Triple Crown winner, Dance Smartly. The first Preakness Stakes ran at a distance of 1 ½ miles. It brought with it a $2,050 purse, which later raged to $1,000,000, its length decreasing to 1 1/16 miles.

The Prince of Wales Stakes on the other hand opened with a noteworthy $7,500 purse. By the third running, however, the Great Depression had taken its toll, reducing the purse to the mere sum of $2,500. Still run today at 1 1/16, the Prince of Wales Stakes offers $500,000 in winnings, $300,000 of that going to the first-place horse. While both races are run on dirt, it seems the most significant difference between these two races is the time between them and the first jewel of their Crowns.

While America’s Triple Crown leaves a brief two-week span between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, there is a three week wait for the Prince of Wales Stakes after the Queen’s Plate. This allows the horses’ a longer rest period to recoup and reenergize before they are asked to defend their titles again.

In reference to the Preakness Stakes, poet Ogden Nash wrote, “The Derby is a race of aristocratic sleekness, for horses of birth to prove their worth to run in the Preakness.” I’m sure many Canadian fans would proclaim the same for the Prince of Wales.