FORT ERIE, Ont. — H C Holiday was installed as the 5-2 early favourite for the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on Thursday.
The 1 3/16-mile race on Fort Erie Racetrack's dirt course is slated for Tuesday night.
H C Holiday is coming off a third-place finish in the $1-million Queen's Plate on Aug. 22 at Toronto's Woodbine Racetrack. Safe Conduct, who held off a late charge from Riptide Rock to win the Plate in a photo finish, won't be running in the second leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown.
So that means Wando remains the last Canadian Triple Crown winner, achieving the feat in 2003.
H C Holiday is trained by Kevin Attard and will be ridden by Luis Contreras.
The horse will break from the No. 5 post in the eight-horse field.
"He's trained really well," Attard said of H C Holiday. "He came out of the (Queen’s Plate) in great shape.
"I thought he looked really good on the dirt training track at Woodbine. We brought him Tuesday (to Fort) and looked pretty smooth going over Fort Erie's course.
"Obviously if he runs back to that kind of race like last time in Plate, he will be tough to beat."
Attard will also saddle Harlan Estate (seventh in Plate) and Haddassah (eighth in Plate) in the Prince of Wales.
The race field, with post position, horse, jockey and early odds, includes:
1) Avoman, Antonio Gallardo, 7-2; 2) Tidal Forces, Emma-Jayne Wilson, 15-1; 3) Curlin's Catch, Patrick Husbands, 9-2; 4) Haddassah, Gary Boulanger, 12-1; 5) H C Holiday, Contreras, 5-2; 6) Ready At Dawn, MarkLee Buchanan, 30-1; 7) Harlan Estate, Kazushi Kimura, 6-1; and 8) Keep Grinding, Rafael Hernandez, 3-1.
Keep Grinding, which was fifth in the Plate, is owned by Attard's son, Joshua, and trained by Attard's father, Tino.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2021.
The Canadian Press
