Plate Winner Mansetti Gets Dirt Test in Prince of Wales

King's Plate Stakes winner Mansetti makes a second stop along the Canadian Triple Crown when he battles six other Canadian-bred 3-year-olds in the CA$400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes Sept. 9 at Fort Erie. The Prince of Wales is the middle leg of the three-race series in Ontario following the Aug. 16 King's Plate at Woodbine and preceding the Sept. 28 Breeders' Stakes there. The three Canadian races mirror the traditional distances of the American Triple Crown, with the King's Plate being at 1 1/4 miles, the Prince of Wales at 1 3/16 miles, and the Breeders' Stakes at 1 1/2 miles. The Canadian Triple Crown differs in that the King's Plate is on a synthetic Tapeta surface and the Breeders' Stakes is on grass. Only the Prince of Wales is contested on dirt. Wando in 2003 was the last Canadian Triple Crown winner. Back then, the King's Plate was run on dirt before Woodbine changed its main track from dirt to synthetic. Since the Canadian Triple Crown was established in 1959, there have been seven winners. Five horses won the trio of races prior to the official establishment of the Triple Crown series. As Mansetti finished a distant fifth in the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack this winter on dirt, the change in surface adds a degree of uncertainty to the colt's Canadian Triple Crown bid in the Prince of Wales. The same is true of his rivals, however. Not one has won a dirt race, albeit from limited opportunities. Jockey Pietro Moran—who rode Mansetti to victory in the King's Plate, keeping his mount clear of traffic that impacted others—was aboard for a four-furlong breeze in :48 4/5 at Fort Erie Sept. 2. "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," Moran said of the son of Collected. Mansetti, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, is a half brother to Straight Up G, a son of Straight Fire who captured the 2021 King Glorious Stakes at Los Alamitos Race Course and 2022 Mine That Bird Stakes at Sunland Park, both on dirt. "We're just going to take it one step at a time," Moran said. "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 next Tuesday." His mount is one of three runners for reigning Sovereign Award-winning trainer Kevin Attard, the others being Dewolf, fifth in the Plate, and Faber, a much-troubled sixth. Al and Bill Ulwelling own both Mansetti and Faber. X-Men Racing IV, Canuck Racing Club, Madaket Stables, and SF Racing campaign Dewolf. Outside of the Attard entries, the field further includes Scorching, Runaway Again, and Ashley's Archer—respectively fourth, 10th, and last of 13 in the Plate—and Humber River, a first-level optional claiming winner at Woodbine Aug. 3. Gary Barber and Archer Racing's Ashley's Archer, a son of proficient turf sire Karakontie (JPN), owns the highest Equibase Speed Figure on dirt, an 83. That was earned in a runner-up finish in a Tampa Bay Downs allowance optional claiming race over the winter for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Post time for the Prince of Wales, the ninth race on Fort Erie's card, is 5:35 p.m. ET. Earlier, there are two divisions of the CA$100,000 Ontario Sire Heritage Series: the Rondeau Bay Stakes and Lake Erie Stakes.