Mighty Heart dominated like few Queen’s Plate winners have in recent years when taking the belated first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown by 7 1/2 lengths earlier this month. On Tuesday, the son of Dramedy will look to add the C$400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie to his list of classic conquests.
The least regarded of the Josie Carroll-trained trio in the Queen’s Plate wagering, Mighty Heart turned his stablemates and 11 other Plate hopefuls into mere afterthoughts through the final quarter-mile. Leading from the start and momentarily challenged approaching the turn for home, Mighty Heart quickly found another gear and drew off in dazzling fashion at odds of 13-1.
“He came out of the Queen’s Plate in extremely good order and breezed very well on Thursday,” said Carroll, noting the colt’s hlaf-mile breeze in :47.40 over the Tapeta at Woodbine. “We thought he deserved a chance for a run at the Canadian Triple Crown.”
The 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales will mark Mighty Heart’s second career start on dirt. His first, which came in his debut on Feb. 21 at Fair Grounds, resulted in a fourth-place effort in maiden company.
Also coming out of the Queen’s Plate are Clayton, who finished a distant third after a grinding, half-length score in the Plate Trial, and fourth-place finisher Tecumseh’s War. Multiple stakes winner Dotted Line was not much farther back in seventh after running third in both the Plate Trial and Marine (G3).
Mighty Heart is listed as the 7-5 morning line favorite for the Prince of Wales, which has a scheduled post time of 5:37 p.m. ET.
