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 breezed five furlongs this morning at Woodbine on the inside of the stakes-placed colt Mason’s Gamble. The Josie Carroll-trained duo stopped the clock in 59.00 seconds, earning the bullet work of the morning. Josie had jockey Justin Stein aboard Duke of Love because he understands the horse extremely well. Josie would have liked to see a slower work — around 1:01 —but Justin told her that he had a snug hold on the 3-year-old colt and was doing his best to slow him down.

Josie was pleased to see that Duke didn’t come back overly tired, and didn’t drink an excessive amount of water, showing that the quick breeze didn’t take too much out of him. With this being Duke of Love’s final breeze for the Queenston Stakes, Josie will be giving him easy gallops leading up to the June 12th race. Entries will be taken one week from today.

Duke of Love’s scheduled breeze was moved up a few days owing to Palm Meadows being closed on Saturday due to the Christmas holiday and the track being in terrific condition. Duke of Love worked this morning five furlongs on the inside of a fellow Josie Carroll trainee in 1:01.65. Josie was very pleased with the work as Duke of Love was able to pull away by about 2 lengths as the duo reached the wire. As of right now, a race has not been targeted, but Duke of Love was nominated to the $100,000 Dania Beach on January 1st. Nominations to the one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds can be viewed here.

Once a race has been targeted, we will report back.

Duke of Love returned to the track for a jog this morning for the first time since his debut win on Sunday. Josie Carroll let us know she was happy to see that he was feeling “spunky”. After a few days of training, we will report back with potential winter plans for Duke of Love.

It was the best of beginnings for our 2-year-old Duke of Love, who won his debut Sunday by 1 ¾ lengths over the Tapeta surface at Woodbine to give MyRacehorse its first win in Canada.

The colt was sent off as the 2-1 favorite for the 5 ½-furlong maiden special weight race with a field of 10. The son of Cupid broke well under Justin Stein, quickly settling in a close fourth, which he maintained going into the far turn.

Duke of Love made his move in mid-turn, and entering the stretch, Stein decided to take him to the rail. There, Duke of Love raced professionally in passing his last opponent and lengthening his stride.

There was a brief concern after the stewards’ inquiry sign went up, involving Duke of Love and runner-up Uncle Joe around the quarter pole. The stewards, however, quickly decided no change should be made.

The winning time was 1:03.47.

“I think this is going to be a very nice horse,” winning trainer Josie Carroll said. “We were thrilled to have MyRacehorse come up to Canada, and hopefully they’re starting with a good one here.”