Sir For Sure Leads Casse Duo in Prince of Wales Stakes

Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Canada's leading conditioner in 2022, sends out a pair of starters in the 87th running of the CA$400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes Sept. 13 at Fort Erie.

Sir For Sure , third in the Queen's Plate, and Fast Feet , the runner-up in the prestigious Cup and Saucer Stakes as a 2-year-old, will take on five other runners. A gelded son of Sligo Bay , Sir For Sure enters the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown presented by OLG with a mark of 2-0-1 from four starts in 2022. The Canadian Triple Crown is restricted to 3-year-olds foaled in the country.

Skipping the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales are the 1-2 finishers from the Queen's Plate, Moira  and Hall of Dreams . 

Sir For Sure, a Rene and Darlene Hunderup homebred, won the Plate Trial in July and broke his maiden in impressive fashion at Gulfstream Park in February. 

"When he won down at Gulfstream, it was one of the more impressive races I've seen in a long time," said Casse. "I watched the race, and when he won my mouth was open, like 'Woah.' At that point in time, I said to Rene and Darlene, I think this horse could maybe win the Queen's Plate. That's how impressed I was with his win at Gulfstream."

Since running in the Aug. 21 Queen's Plate, Casse has prepped Sir For Sure for the Prince of Wales Stakes by transitioning him for the move to dirt with breezes over Woodbine's dirt training track.

His pedigree leans toward the grass, and his prior racing experience has come on turf or synthetic surfaces. But he's not alone; none of the horses running in the Prince of Wales Stakes have experienced racing over dirt.

"He has the advantage that he was broke at our training center in Florida," said Casse. "Our training center is dirt, and he has trained a lot on dirt. So, we have a pretty good idea of how he gets over the surface. This is a big transition from synthetic to dirt, but he's handled it very well. I would think he would be one of the horses to beat."

The other thing all seven entrants will have in common when they enter the gate is the chance to etch themselves in the history books by winning one of Canada's most prestigious races.

"Triple Crown races are everything. It's what fuels our industry in so many ways," said Casse. "This race is important because these big races, these big money purses, it's what brings horses to Canada, and makes people want to pursue them."

Declan Carroll will again be aboard Sir For Sure.

Fast Feet is the second Casse starter. He was supplemented to the Prince of Wales Stakes by owner Gary Barber.

"He's a big horse and training good. Gary and I talked about it, and he wanted to give it a shot," said Casse "So, that's what we are doing. If you're not in it, you can't win it."

Fast Feet's results reflect his name. As a juvenile, he led gate to wire in his maiden breaker, and the son of Tourist   held the lead throughout the Cup and Saucer before being overtaken late. His last start was a third in a first-level allowance optional claiming race against older horses Aug. 12 at Woodbine. 

Other contenders in the Prince of Wales Stakes include graded-placed Duke of Love  and Ironstone . The latter, fourth in the Queen's Plate, a length and a half behind Sir for Sure, appears to be the controlling speed of the Prince of Wales under Kazushi Kimura.