TORONTO — Rafael Hernandez and filly Caitlinhergrtness made it worth the wait for Kevin Attard.
Hernandez moved Caitlinhergrtness past 3/5 favourite My Boy Prince in the deep stretch to capture the $1-million King's Plate on Friday night. The race was originally scheduled to be run last Saturday but was postponed for safety reasons following heavy rain.
Caitlinhergrtness, a 9/1 pick and the lone filly in the field, was coming off a second-place finish to Kin's Concerto in the Woodbine Oaks on July 20. That came just two weeks after a victory also at Woodbine, so part of the decision to supplement Caitlinhergrtness for the Plate rather than run in the Bison City Stakes — the second event of the Canadian Triple Tiara on Aug. 10 — was to give her more recovery time.
That was further extended by the postponement but Attard said his horse took everything in stride en route to her first stakes win in 2:03.45.
“She’s obviously all class and all racehorse," said Attard. "She has handled everything really well.
"She's withstanding everything we've thrown at her. I was happy with where he (Hernandez) positioned her the whole way around there and at the quarter pole, I thought we had a shot."
Attard earned his second Plate victory, both having come with fillies. He earned the '22 title with Moira.
Hernandez won North America's longest continuously run stakes race a third time. In addition to also riding Moira, Hernandez claimed his first title in 2015 aboard Shaman Ghost.
"She was hot but she was getting on the bridle a little bit," said Hernandez. "She gave me everything.
"I was covering all the time, all the time, and when I pulled the trigger, she just gave me everything.”
Still, Hernandez had to wait until the very end to celebrate, adding the moment he knew he'd won was, "When I crossed the wire.”
My Boy Prince, with Sahin Civaci aboard, finished second with stablemate Midnight Mascot, ridden by Luis Contreras, taking third in the field reduced to 12 horses with Bedard (also trained by Attard) being scratched.
It marked the second straight runner-up spot for Civaci, who rode filly Elysian Field to a second-place finish behind stablemate Paramount Prince and veteran jockey Patrick Husbands in last year's Plate.
The remainder of the field, in order of finish, included: Pierre; Jokestar; Vitality; Thor's Cause; No More Options; Rafaroo; Essex Serpent; Friendly Ghost; and Roar of the Crowd.
Caitlinhergrtness paid $20.70, $5.30 and $4.20, while My Boy Prince returned $2.40 and $2.30. Midnight Mascot paid $5.70.
Attard and Mark Casse, Canada's top Thoroughbred trainer 16 times, both had three horses in Friday's race. Jokestar and Pierre were Attard's other entries while Casse conditioned My Boy Prince, Essex Serpent and Midnight Mascot.
My Boy Prince, Canada's champion two-year-old male, was chasing a fourth straight win. Despite rearing at the start, My Boy Prince won last month's $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine by 1 1/4 lengths.
But My Boy Prince has finished in the money in 10-of-11 career starts (six wins, three times second, third).
Essex Serpent and My Boy Prince both broke well to start the race and settled in as the early leaders. Hernandez moved Caitlinhergrtness into fourth at the half-mile mark but they were running second behind My Boy Prince coming off the final turn.
Hernandez and Caitlinhergrtness slowly reeled the leaders in before moving in front to take the victory by three-quarters of a length.
“She gave it all she had,” said Attard. “My Boy Prince, kudos to him, he put in a gallant effort today.
"You know, he was a little suspect by a lot of people going this far, but he just proved what kind of class horse he is. I think our filly's pretty special, and it took everything she had to run him down, and she’s the champ."
Caitlinhergrtness earned her second win in four starts this season and third in seven career races. The $600,000 winner's share boosted her overall earnings to $787,010.
The second leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown will be the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Racetrack on Sept. 10.
Attard said a decision whether to run Caitlinhergrtness in that race will depend upon how the filly comes out from her Plate victory.
The final Triple Crown race will be the $400,000 Breeders' Stakes on Sept. 29 at Woodbine. Wando is the last horse to win all three Canadian events, doing so in 2003.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2024.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
