Paramount Prince crowned in the 2023 King’s Plate

The connections celebrate as Paramount Prince heads to the winner’s circle after the King’s Plate with co-owner Michael Langlois leading and trainer Mark Casse just behind him.  • Undercard Stakes Results

Date: 8/20/2023

On Sunday afternoon, a full field of 17 Canadian-foaled 3-year-olds raced 1 1/4 miles over the Tapeta surface at Woodbine in the 164th running of the $1 million King’s Plate Stakes, the oldest continuously-run stakes race in North America and the first leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, with a $500,000 bonus should a horse complete the sweep. Conditions were typical for late August in Southern Ontario, with cloudy skies and a race time temperature of 27.8 C (82 F). Kalik was sent off as the lukewarm 4-1 favorite, 9th in the Belmont Derby Invitational (G1) after winning the Pennine Ridge Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park. In to challenge him included 17-4 second choice Stanley House, 6th as the favorite in the Plate Trial, and 9-2 third choice Elysian Field, winner of the Woodbine Oaks.

Down the stretch with Paramount Prince leading.

Jockey Patrick Husbands sent 8-1 fifth choice Paramount Prince to a clear lead first time by and he set fractions of 23.28, 47.41, 1:11.81, and 1:36.47 while pressed by 59-1 Silent Miracle and stalked by 71-1 Velocitor. Turning for home, Paramount Prince continued to lead through 9f in 1:48.94. Elysian Field, 5th early under Sahin Civaci, put in a strong 3 wide rally but Paramount Prince easily held her off to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 2:01.93, just 45/100 seconds off the stakes and track record set by Moira in 2022. It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to late-running Stanley House third, while favorite Kalik was 8th, 4 1/2 lengths back early under Kazushi Kimura but faded late to finish 13th beaten 22 lengths.

Check out the four other stakes on the card: the Dance Smartly Stakes (G2) won by Miss Dracarys, the Bold Venture Stakes (G2) won by Patches O’Houlihan, the Catch A Glimpse Stakes won by Airosa, and the Soaring Free Stakes won by Golden Canary.

Pgm  Horse              Jockey         Win   Place  Show
13   Paramount Prince   Husbands     18.00    9.70  5.80
 2   Elysian Field      Civaci                5.90  4.10
 1   Stanley House      Castellano                  4.10

Winning Time:  2:01.93

$1 Exacta 13-2                46.30
$2 Trifecta 13-2-1           587.10
$2 Superfecta 13-2-1-7    22,243.30

Results Chart

Left: Paramount Prince in the winner’s circle. Winning trainer Mark Casse, who trains the first 2 finishers said, “There’s a lot of speed, as I’ve talked about,” said Casse. “He’s so quick from the gate and that’s where he won it. He outbroke them and I knew when he went by us the first time he was travelling well. I was with Gary Barber, and we saw the half in :47 and I said, ‘That’s not too bad.’ And that Elysian Field, she’s tough, she came up. But it was a dream come true.”

Right: Paramount Prince gets hosed off after the race. Casse added, “He’s a great-moving horse. Patrick told me last time this horse breaks so sharp and that he wasn’t going to take it away from him, and that’s what happened in the Plate Trial. I thought some other horses would go, but he (can) win the race at the start.”

Left: The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, presents the King’s Plate trophy along with Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson.

Right: Winning jockey Patrick Husbands celebrates with the trophy. Husbands said, “At the end of the day, you’ve got to let the horses talk and don’t get too cocky. I worked this horse last week and I told (assistant trainer David Adams) to tell Mark to bring his suit. I got a clean break. I let him do what he likes to do best, and he just enjoyed the running. When I asked him when he got on his right lead in the lane, he was just gone.”

Left: Trainer Mark Casse, co-owner Gary Barber, jockey Patrick Husbands, and co-owner Michael Langlois with the trophy. Barber said, “It’s beautiful.This is my third time, now with a gelding, first time in The King’s Plate. Now we got a hat trick.” His last two winners were fillies, Lexie Lou in 2014 and Wonder Gadot in 2018.

Right: Paramount Prince heads to the winner’s circle. Husbands dedicated the win to fellow Bajan jockey Ricky Griffith, who passed away August 1 after succumbing to ALS. “It’s a great feeling. I give this race to him and all the riders and grooms here from the Caribbean. This race is for Ricky, it’s not for me.” Griffith retired as a jockey in 1998 and became an assistant to Casse, who added, “Ricky rode for me when I first came up here, then he was my assistant. When Patrick said that, it brought tears to my eyes. Good guy. Wonderful guy. Everything you see here is because of the job David (Carroll, assistant) does. He does a tremendous job and we have a great relationship. I talk to him like 30 times a day.” Carroll was introduced to Casse by Griffith.

Left: Paramount Prince in the walking ring. Casse did not rule out a start for Paramount Prince in the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie on Sept. 12. Husbands said, “A good horse will run on anything.” He added, “We were shocked that he got beat the first few couple times (this spring), but I think the key to that is he just doesn’t want to run short. He wants to use his speed, and that’s what Patrick did. So many times, you get a horse where his strong point is to do one thing, and if you take that away from him, you’re hurting him. Patrick never does that.”

Right: Paramount Prince leads first time by en route to his gate-to-wire victory. Husbands considered retiring at the end of the 2021 season but was convinced to stay on by Casse. Casse said, “He called me because he had lost a friend and he said, ‘I’m going to retire.’ I said, ‘Look, you can retire if that’s what you choose to do, but not this week. I want you to think about it over the winter and then decide.’ When he wants to retire, I’m fine. I just didn’t want him to retire for the wrong reason.”

Left: Second place finisher Elysian Field returns after the race. Trainer Mark Casse said, “After we bought Elysian Field, she went into a clinic and nearly died. She had an impaction that took a lot out of her, and then we sent her home to Ocala.”

Right: Third place finisher Stanley House in the walking ring before the race. The Mike DePaulo trainee improved his record to 2 wins, 3 seconds, and 1 third in 8 starts, earning $201,724 for owners John and Diana Russell.

Left: Sixth place finisher and beaten favorite Kalik in the walking ring before the race. The Chad Brown trainee has a record of 3 wins, 1 second, and 0 thirds in 7 starts, earning $228,794 for owners Robert LaPenta, eFive Racing Thoroughbreds and Madaket Stables.

Right: The horses break from the gate for the 164th King’s Plate. Silent Miracle (9) and Midnight in Malibu (10) bumped at the start and lost all chance.

The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was the Royal Representative at this year’s King’s Plate. She arrived in the landau carriage and was presented a bouquet of flowers. This will be her final Plate, having served since 2014, as her replacement, Edith Dumont, will be sworn in later this year. Dowdeswell said when the announcement was made, “Felicitations and all best wishes to Ms. Edith Dumont on the news of her selection as Ontario’s 30th Lieutenant Governor. It is such a privilege to play a role in our democracy and most of all to represent the amazing citizens of this province.” The lieutenant-governor serves a non-fixed term of at least five years in accordance with the Constitution Act of 1867.

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