FORT ERIE, Ont. – An impressive late kick earned jockey Jose Campos and Vitality the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on Tuesday.
Campos had the Stronach Stables-owned horse sitting fifth coming around the final turn at Fort Erie Racetrack as leader Airosa was fending off Wyoming Bill. Down the stretch, though, Vitality took off on the outside and shot past the four horses in front of him, including leader Airosa down the stretch, to capture the 1 3/16-mile dirt race in one minute 55.72 seconds on a fast track.
“Everyone knows my horse is kind of lazy,” Campos said. “I talked about it with Harold (trainer Harold Ladouceur) about being just behind the pace.
“I put my horse in a good spot and when I asked him to make a run he responded really well.”
Despite never being threatened at the end, Campos said it took some time before he figured he’d won the race.
“When I passed the wire,” he said with a chuckle. “This is a nice horse.
“So going in, I just listened to everything the trainer told me, and tried to keep that in mind.”
Airosa, ridden by Rafael Hernandez, finished second ahead of stablemate Bedard and jockey Sahin Civaci. Both horses are trained by Kevin Attard, who won last year’s race with Velocitor and had four horses in this year’s race (Bedard and Pierre were others) in quest of a fourth Prince of Wales victory.
King’s Plate-winning filly Caitlinhergrtness, also trained by Attard, didn’t run in the 10-horse field.
The victory was the second in four starts this year for Velocity and the second in nine career starts. The horse’s win followed a sixth-place finish in the $1-million King’s Plate on Aug. 23 at Toronto‘s Woodbine Racetrack.
“We knew he had the pedigree for this track and we were really confident,” Ladouceur said of the decision to run in the Prince of Wales. “There were little setbacks here and there … we came to the conclusion let’s run him.”
And Ladouceur suggested his victory was a historic one.
“This is huge,” said Ladouceur. “I believe I’m the first Indigenous trainer to win the Prince of Wales.”
As a member of the Moosomin and Kikino Métis settlements, Ladouceur said winning the Prince of Wales was a major step forward for the Indigenous community.
“I’m so proud to be Indigenous,” he said. “I’m just a kid from tiny little Lac La Biche, but I feel like I’ve joined a very elite group, and to do that as an Indigenous man, it feels amazing.”
More than $700,000 was wagered on the race, the second-most in its history. Total betting on the 11-race card reached $3.03 million.
Vitality paid $20.10, $8.60 and $5.50, while Airosa returned $8.20 and $7.20. Bedard paid $5.40.
Passioned, ridden by Pietro Moran, was fourth. The remainder of the field, in order of finish, included: Wyoming Bill; Pierre; Midnight Mascot; Jokestar; Scat Factor; and Essex Serpent.
The final leg of the Triple Crown is the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes on Sept. 29 at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack. And Ladouceur said that race remains very much on his horse’s radar.
“It certainly will be,” he said. “He has a lot of confidence and this was a booster for him.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
