One Bad Boy Faces Familiar Rivals in Prince of Wales

Sayjay Racing, Greg Hall, and Brooke Hubbard's Queen's Plate Stakes winner One Bad Boy is entered back in the CA$400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes July 23 at Fort Erie to contest the second leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. 

The 3-year-old Twirling Candy  ridgling led every step of the June 29 Queen's Plate, the first race in the series run on Woodbine's Tapeta, and will face only four others returning from the 14-horse field.

Should One Bad Boy repeat his success, the Prince of Wales will mark his first victory on dirt. The Richard Baltas trainee placed on dirt in his first two starts at Santa Anita Park but broke his maiden going a mile on the turf April 6. He followed that effort with a runner-up effort in the May 19 Alcatraz Stakes at a mile on Golden Gate Field's synthetic track before heading to the 1 1/4-mile Queen's Plate.

"He's used to working on the dirt track at Santa Anita. He trains over it well," Hubbard said. "We know there is a lot of history to this track, so we are super excited to be here. We are looking forward to taking on the Canadian Triple Crown. It's one of the main reasons we decided to stay in Canada."

The Prince of Wales at 1 3/16 miles is followed by the Aug. 17 Breeders' Stakes, sending Canadian-bred 3-year-olds 1 1/2 miles on turf back at Woodbine. A CA$500,000 bonus awaits One Bad Boy if he sweeps all three races.

One Bad Boy will break from the rail. Avie's Flatter, Tone Broke, He's a Macho Man, and Skywire complete the field from the inside out.

Ivan Dalos' homebred Avie's Flatter, Canada's champion 2-year-old colt, ran second throughout in the Queen's Plate and crossed the wire 3 1/2 lengths behind One Bad Boy. The Prince of Wales will mark the Flatter  colt's first race on dirt, but he is a stakes winner on both the Tapeta and turf at Woodbine. His biggest victory came April 5 in Keeneland's Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T).

Trainer Josie Carroll worked Avie's Flatter on dirt while wintering at Palm Meadows Training Center, and he was timed in 1:00 1/5 for five furlongs on Fort Erie's dirt July 11.

"Avie's Flatter skipped over the track and seemed very comfortable," Carroll said. "He's a very consistent horse across every surface."

Carroll will also saddle Di Scola Boys Stable's He's a Macho Man, fourth in the Queen's Plate in his stakes debut. A two-time winner in four starts, He's a Macho Man also worked on dirt at Palm Meadows during the winter and took a trip around Fort Erie the same day as Avie's Flatter. He went five furlongs in 1:03 4/5.

"I'm glad we brought him down. Patrick Husbands worked him and said he was a little lost on the track because he likes to take a look at everything," Carroll said. "So his time wasn't very fast, but Patrick loved the way he got across the track."

He's a Macho Man hit the gate at the start of his lone dirt race at Gulfstream Park in January and trailed throughout.

Tone Broke, trained by Steve Asmussen for L and N Racing, started his year with two races in Dubai and has improved since his stateside return. He finished second in the Sir Barton Stakes May 18 at Pimlico Race Course and ran a steady third in the Queen's Plate after breaking inward.

Gary Barber and Lucio Tucci's Skywire went off as the Queen's Plate favorite but was shut out at the start when Tone Broke came inward. After having to check in the turn, Skywire came home 11th. The Mark Casse trainee earned his black-type label when he scored in the April 28 Wando Stakes and was runner-up in the May 25 Marine Stakes (G3), both races on Woodbine's Tapeta, in his two starts prior to the Queen's Plate.

Skywire picked up a dirt victory in February when his race at Gulfstream was taken off the turf due to rainy weather and romped to a six-length allowance optional claiming score on a sloppy surface.

Entries: Prince of Wales S.

Fort Erie, Tuesday, July 23, 2019, Race 8

• STK
• 1 3/16m
• Dirt
• $400,000
• 3 yo
• 7:36 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1One Bad Boy (ON)	Flavien Prat	126	Richard Baltas	7/5
2	2Avie's Flatter (ON)	Javier Castellano	126	Josie Carroll	5/2
3	3Tone Broke (ON)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	126	Steven M. Asmussen	5/1
4	4He's a Macho Man (ON)	Patrick Husbands	126	Josie Carroll	8/1
5	5Skywire (ON)	Eurico Rosa Da Silva	126	Mark E. Casse	3/1