Tone Broke to Try Turf in Breeders' Stakes

After a clear victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes, Tone Broke will look for a second win in the Canadian Triple Crown when he starts in the final leg of the series Aug. 17—the CA$400,000 Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine.

The 1 1/2-mile turf race will mark the first start on grass for L & N Racing's Tone Broke, who enters off a two-length score in the middle leg of the series on dirt July 23 at Fort Erie. The series features the unique challenge of each race being on a different surface, and Tone Broke, by Broken Vow , finished third in the initial leg, the June 29 Queen's Plate Stakes on the synthetic surface at Woodbine.

Trained by Racing Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Tone Broke will have leading Woodbine jockey Rafael Hernandez in the irons for the first time Saturday.

Tone Broke won a pair of races at Remington Park last season, where he also finished fourth in the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes. He started this year in Dubai, finishing off the board in a pair of starts there. Given more than two months off, Tone Broke returned May 18, earning his first stakes placing when second in the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. He followed with his runs in the Queen's Plate and Prince of Wales, where he secured his first stakes win.

"It was excellent to see him put it all together," Asmussen said. "I think he's shown talent in the past, and for him to have such a significant breakthrough victory is exciting. We've been expecting it for about eight months, I think."

Asmussen is looking for another strong effort from Tone Broke, who was bred in Ontario by Sean Fitzhenry.

"It will be interesting for his turf debut. There's no better course than Woodbine's to try him on," Asmussen said. "He's a big, tall horse, very athletic, and I think he'll get over it very well."

Darren Fleming, an assistant to Asmussen, said the surface change shouldn't bother Tone Broke and he should like the added distance, after passing Queen's Plate winner One Bad Boy and Avie's Flatter in the stretch to win the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales.

"I think the further the better, and he's versatile," Fleming said. "He's been on the (synthetic track) one time and he liked it. I don't think the turf will bother him a bit. He's that good. He's a nice horse."

One Bad Boy will not contest the final leg in the series for 3-year-olds foaled in Canada, but Ivan Dalos homebred Avie's Flatter returns after runner-up finishes in the first two races. The son of Flatter  was named champion 2-year-old in Canada last year off two stakes wins. He won his 3-year-old debut in the April 5 Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T) on the turf at Keeneland.

Avie's Flatter is trained by Josie Carroll, who also will send out He's a Macho Man, who finished fourth in the Prince of Wales.

Entries: Breeders' S.

Woodbine, Saturday, August 17, 2019, Race 10

• STK
• 1 1/2m
• Turf
• $400,000
• 3 yo
• 5:42 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Seguimi (ON)	Patrick Husbands	126	Stuart C. Simon	20/1
2	2Flashymeister (ON)	Alan Garcia	126	Kevin Attard	20/1
3	3Lucas n' Lori (ON)	Kazushi Kimura	126	Kevin Attard	8/1
4	4Rising Star (ON)	Jesse M. Campbell	126	Michael P. De Paulo	10/1
5	5Tone Broke (ON)	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	126	Steven M. Asmussen	5/2
6	6Pay for Peace (ON)	Steven Ronald Bahen	126	Rachel Halden	20/1
7	7Avie's Flatter (ON)	Eurico Rosa Da Silva	126	Josie Carroll	2/1
8	8He's a Macho Man (ON)	Luis Contreras	126	Josie Carroll	6/1
9	9Encierro (ON)	Emma-Jayne Wilson	126	Catherine Day Phillips	4/1