2004 Prince of Wales Stakes Entries

The Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, will be contested at Fort Erie racetrack, just across the Niagara River from Buffalo, NY, on Sunday June 18. Like the Preakness Stakes, the Prince of Wales is run over 1 3/16 miles on the main track, with all entrants carrying 126 pounds. Queen's Plate winner Niigon, the superbly-bred son of Unbridled out of the Nureyev mare Savethelastdance, continues his quest to become Canadian racing's eighth Triple Crown winner, hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year's winner, Wando, and take home the $500,000 Triple Crown bonus put up by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society. Niigon's trainer Eric Coatrieux said, "When he steps off the van it's obvious he's on his way to race. He really does get himself psyched up." Niigon is stabled and trains at his owner Robert Krembil's farm south of Alliston, and will be vanned to Fort Erie on Friday. Regular rider Robert Landry will be on board on Sunday as expected.

On hand at this year's draw as honorary drawmasters were jockey Francine Villeneuve, this year's winner of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, and Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Craig Ramsay, a local hero who served most of his NHL playing and coaching career with the Buffalo Sabres before finding his way to Tampa Bay and this year's Stanley Cup. He announced that he will be bringing the Cup "home" to Fort Erie on August 1 for charity events. In past years Villeneuve posted the horse names on the draw board but this year, local rider Monique Dionne took over that duty, allowing Villeneuve to actually draw the posts.

Six other 3-year-olds will enter the starting gate with Niigon, who drew the 3 post, including Plate runner-up A Bit O'Gold, who beat him in the Plate Trial but was unable to get by him when it mattered three weeks later. Trainer Catherine Day-Phillips said, "First of all Jono (Jones, jockey) and the horse get along great. Secondly, he and I get along well and communicate, and have developed a rapport that enables the horses to run to the best of their abilities. It's not going to be a case of Jono being the rider for just one race. We're constantly building towards something."

Trainer Jim Day has two horses entered, both of which are 20-1 longshots on the morning line. Copper Trail, who disappointed in ninth in the Plate, drew post 6. Day said, "This horse has good speed, but he's a big tall horse, like a long-legged Smarty Jones. If you want to ring him up, he's got plenty of speed. But we're trying to get him to relax, trying to get him to run strategically." His other entrant, His Smoothness, drew post 5. Commenting on his 1:03.40 five-furlong work on July 6, Day said, "He seems to be ready to roll. The end result is he's bouncing around and pumped up. He's really maintained his weight well." Day expects the Fort Erie surface, which is "kind and easy on the horses" but "completely different" from that at Woodbine, to be to his advantage this time.

The Prince of Wales Stakes goes to post at 5:08 PM Eastern on Sunday as the ninth race on the card, and will be televised across Canada on the Score Network from 4:30 to 5:30 PM.