As the field for the 165th King’s Plate next Saturday at Woodbine coalesces, trainer Mark Casse by far holds the strongest hand with three of a kind ahead of the draw on Tuesday.
Casse, who already has three Plates to his credit, plans to enter Essex Serpent, Midnight Mascot and My Boy Prince in the US$728,000, 1 1/4-mile Canadian classic. My Boy Prince figures to go favored off his Plate Trial Stakes win at 3-10, and Grade 3 Marine Stakes winner Essex Serpent likely will be the second choice with Marine third and Midnight Mascot in the mix as well.
The winning jockeys Sahin Civaci and Patrick Husbands will retain their mounts on My Boy Prince and Essex Serpent, respectively, and Kazushi Kimura will return to Woodbine to ride Midnight Mascot.
“Civaci rode Essex Serpent on debut, but I knew he was a Plate horse along with My Boy Prince, so I made decision to keep Civaci on My Boy Prince and put Husbands on Essex Serpent. And Kimura will be in from Del Mar to ride Midnight Mascot,” Casse said. “That’s the top rider (Civaci, by wins) and three of the top five, so I feel pretty good about our hand.”
Of course, other connections are not going to just sign over the King’s Plate to Casse. In fact, the connections of Caitlinhergrtness are willing to pony up extra cash to take him on.
Trained by Kevin Attard, who won the 2022 Queen’s Plate with Moira, Caitlinhergrtness finished second in the Woodbine Oaks, and the partnership of WinStar and Siena Farms plans to supplement the Omaha Beach filly, WinStar president Elliott Walden said.
Rounding out my top five contenders is a likely long shot in Vitality, who took a big step forward last out when finally winning in career start number seven, which happened to follow trainer Harold Ladouceur gelding the Stronach Stables’ homebred son of Street Boss. At the right price, he could be playable to take another step forward given the positive results of the ultimate equipment change.
Ed DeRosa’s King’s Plate top 5
1. My Boy Prince. The horse to beat off impressive Plate Trial score.
2. Midnight Mascot. Offers value to reverse Marine result.
3. Essex Serpent. Horse he beat in Marine came back to win stakes at Ellis.
4. Caitlinhergrtness. Runner-up in Woodbine Oaks, always a formidable Plate prep.
5. Vitality. 1-for-1 since gelded.
Coverage of King’s Plate day next Saturday is made possible in part through a sponsorship by Woodbine Entertainment.
