Duke of Love has returned to the track following his race on Sunday and is training towards the Queen’s Plate. Josie Carroll is very happy with the condition Duke has kept coming out of the Plate Trial and believes he is the most relaxed she has seen him after any of his races. Josie said there is a distinction between being tired and relaxed. If Duke was feeling and showing the effects of recently running, she wouldn’t be as pleased as she is now. She said she is very much looking forward to seeing him train over the course of the next few weeks. If you are interested in joining us for the Queen’s Plate, we have a very limited amount of tickets available which can be purchased here.
The Duke bounced out of his fourth place effort in the Plate Trial in good shape. Trainer Josie Carroll said that she was concerned after the race that the Duke may have a few superficial cuts on his forelegs due to being in close quarters down the stretch, but was thrilled to see his legs clean, cold, and tight. If he continues to train well, Duke of Love will likely work 12 days from his last race (July 24th), which would be August 5th.
Duke of Love’s fourth-place finish today in the Plate Trial was actually a terrific effort considering the traffic-plagued trip he encountered in the 1 1/8th-mile stakes at Woodbine.
It was also an effort that has trainer Josie Carroll really pumped to forge on to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Queen’s Plate on Aug. 21 at Woodbine, as has always been the goal for your Cupid colt. She shares her very positive thoughts with our East Coast Racing Manager, Harry Rice, in the above video.
Ridden by his regular partner, Justin Stein, the 3-year-old never really was allowed to do any running until deep stretch when he got into the clear and unleashed a strong run in the final yards, just missing out on securing the third spot.
Duke of Love broke well and took up position on the rail while running in fourth going into the first turn. Never far off the early leaders, Causin’ Mayhem and Dancin in Da’nile, Duke of Love stayed on the rail with the 2-1 favorite The Minkster directly to his outside down the backstretch.
He faced a wall of horses turning for home and then early in the stretch, he was poised to enter a slim opening between horses, but the hole closed and Duke was rerouted to the outside, but he had too much to do at that point, yet still was showing a nice turn of foot when he got in the clear. Among the positives in this effort is that Josie said he had no problems with switching leads and that he was very relaxed down the backstretch and was not carrying his head in that high carriage position we had seen in his prior races.
The race was won by Sir For Sure, who came from off the pace. And it’s worthwhile to note that The Minkster faded and finished sixth. Duke was beaten a total of four lengths.
We lost today’s battle, but the future remains bright for Duke of Love. We will check back in a couple days with how Duke exited his effort and will report back.
We also included some fun photos of one of our very passionate partners who dressed for the occasion today!
A solid second-place finish today from Duke of Love to earn the important distinction of becoming a graded stakes-placed performer in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes at Woodbine.
With his regular partner Justin Stein at the controls, Duke of Love raced several lengths off the early pace in the two-turn, 1 1/16th-mile Tapeta race. He began rolling around the far turn but the eventual winner, Rondure, had the jump on your colt and sailed into the lane with a comfortable lead. Duke kept on battling to the very end and would finish 5 1/2 lengths behind Rondure, who was the runner-up in the Queenston Stakes.
Josie Carroll was very pleased with today’s race. What she particularly liked was that he caught up to the winner on the gallop-out, which is important as the distance of his races increase in the future. The conditioner was also happy to see Duke take some dirt in his face, which is good experience.
“I thought Justin did a great job of tucking him behind horses, and getting some dirt in his face,” Josie told our East Coast Racing Manager, Harry Rice.
She did, however, note her frustration with Duke’s continued lack of switching to his correct in his races. She shared that it is something he does flawlessly in his morning training. She said this possibly could be attributed to the fact he is still relatively young and/or is simply a result of the way he runs, with his head carriage high, which she describes as a “gawky” style of running.
Pending how Duke of Love comes out of today’s effort and trains going forward, he will race in the Plate Trial Stakes on July 24th as a prep for his main summer objective, the Grade 1 Queen’s Plate on Aug. 21. As a reminder to the colt’s partners, we still have some remaining tickets to our Queen’s Plate Weekend Experience and they can be found here.
In the coming days, we will check in with Josie and report back with how your son of Cupid came out of his race.
Duke of Love has officially been entered in the $150,000, Grade 3 Marine Stakes on Saturday, July 2nd, at Woodbine. Justin Stein will be back aboard as the established duo will break from post six of eight in the 1 1/16-mile race. If you are interested in joining us on Saturday, we have both our paddock lottery and seating lottery available.
Duke of Love was entered today for the allowance going 1 1/16 miles on Saturday, but unfortunately the race did not yield enough entrants to be carded, nor was it brought back on Saturday’s overnight. So, we will be going with plan B and entering in Saturday’s Grade 3 Marine Stakes. Trainer Josie Carroll was disappointed that the allowance didn’t go, but said the Marine was looking a bit light when she last talked to the racing office today. We will follow up tomorrow after entries are taken.
Duke of Love has been nominated to the Grade 3 Marine Stakes at Woodbine on July 2nd. The Marine Stakes, which is run at 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta, fits into Josie Carroll’s plan of stretching the Duke out. In addition, Josie has also circled an allowance race on July 1st at the same distance as another option if the stake looks to be extremely tough. Josie said that we should expect to see the Duke breeze towards the end of this week, most likely Thursday or Friday.
Duke of Love exited Sunday’s Queenston Stakes in good order. He earned an 83 Beyer Speed Figure, with the race winner The Minkster earning an 86 BSF (a number the Duke ran last time out). Josie Carroll mentioned getting the Duke around two turns prior to the Plate Trial and at the moment, there is just one race in the condition book that fits into that schedule. On July 1st, there is an allowance optional claiming race going 1 1/16 miles over the main Tapeta surface. We will be in touch with Josie over the next 7-10 days to check in on Duke of Love’s continued progression out of the race and see if any additional race options pop up
Duke of Love ran a very respectable fourth today in the $125,000 Queenston Stakes at Woodbine, finishing just 1 1/2 lengths behind a good-looking winner in The Minkster, who is now undefeated in three career starts. Not much separated the top four finishers at the wire in this salty seven-horse field.
Our colt, piloted by Justin Stein who was aboard for his two career wins, was perfectly placed in the early stages of the seven-furlong Tapeta race, just behind the early leaders, who rattled off fractions of 22.54 for the opening quarter mile and 45.16 for the half. Moving from fourth to third leaving the backstretch, Duke set his sights on The Minkster, who had the lead turning for home and posted a snappy six-furlong time of 1:08.49. The eventual winner would not give in, though, and Duke of Love didn’t quite punch on like he had in his previous wins, and in the final yards was passed late to lose out on third place.
Trainer Josie Carroll was not displeased with the effort, remarking Duke was beaten just 1 1/4 lengths for second. She noted he was a bit more tired after this race, but was happy to see improvement from him in correctly switching leads, which is an important step for the 3-year-old. She is considering adding a small shadow roll — a piece of equipment that partially restricts a horse’s vision, and helps them to concentrate on what is in front of them — to the noseband of his bridle next time because he is continuing to carry his head high. Depending upon what the Woodbine condition book offers, the trainer will consider a two-turn allowance race for the colt in advance of a start in the Plate Trial Stakes on July 24. It is Josie’s belief that Duke of Love will prove to be a better horse around two turns.
In the coming days we will report back with how Duke exited his race.
Duke of Love has been nominated to the seven-furlong, $125,000 Queenston Stakes, restricted to Ontario breds, on June 12th at Woodbine. If you’re interested in joining us for the day, please enter our paddock lottery here.