Haddassah captures the 2021 Prince of Wales Stakes

FORT ERIE, September 14, 2021 – The fan-filled crowd cheered on Haddassah in the 86th running of the Prince of Wales Stakes. The son of Air Force Blue, trained by Kevin Attard and owned by Al and Bill Ulwelling was piloted to victory by journeyman Gary Boulanger. Consulting with conditioner Attard, Boulanger was confident in his horse’s ability to capture the second jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown.

“Kevin said he might be the most talented three-year-old he has, but he hadn’t mentally put it together. Today, he showed he did,” said Boulanger, who captured his first Prince of Wales win.

A battle down to the wire with Attard’s other trainee, Harlan Estate, Boulanger was confident his mount could get the job done in the 1 3/16-miles race over Fort Erie’s dirt course.

“He’s a horse that’s really come into himself,” said Boulanger after steering Haddassah to victory.

Eighth in the Queen’s Plate, Haddassah’s conditioner Attard was extremely pleased with Haddassah heading into the Prince of Wales.

“He’s trained really well since and he really matured since the Queen’s Plate – he’s more relaxed in his training in the mornings. We elected to take him off of Lasix for the Queen’s Plate and he ran without the medication today as well just because I thought it was reacting negatively to him. He put it all together today,” said Attard.

Haddassah returned $15.50 to his backers. Attard’s two other contenders, Harlan Estate and H C Holiday finished second and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Tino Attard’s trainee, Keep Grinding finished third.

An eventful day at Fort Erie, the program was filled with various stakes including the Rondeau Bay Stakes and the Lake Erie Stakes. Each race was part of the inaugural Ontario Sired Heritage Series, an exciting new eight-leg stakes series open to Ontario-sired 3-year-olds, featured both at Woodbine and Fort Erie.

The Rondeau Bay Stakes went to Red Equinox with jockey Christopher Husbands. Trained by Jamie Attard for owner Norseman Racing Stable, the three-year-old filly returned $7.80 to her backers.

His first stakes race win, trainer Jamie Attard, son of Hall of Fame trainer Sid Attard, said the victory was very special. “It’s something you dream about all the time when you’re growing up and thinking about getting into this business and learning from someone like my father.”

The Lake Erie Stakes was captured by Red River Rebel with jockey Rafael Hernandez for trainer Kevin Attard and owners Denny Andrews and Northern Dawn Stables, Inc., returning $5.10 to win.

The two cup races on the eleven-race card included the Le Cinquieme Essai Cup as well as the Molson Cup.

Seau was first across the finish line in the Le Cinquieme Essai Cup. Jockey Sunny Singh picked up the mount for trainer John Simms and owner Deborah Fletcher.

“He was pretty cool the first time I sat on him a few weeks ago, and he just did everything on his own and did it all right,” said Sunny Singh from the winner’s circle after the race. “He is just an awesome animal to be around, and John and his crew did a great job.”

The Molson Cup was scooped up by Feature Creature and rider Kazushi Kimura, giving owner Deborah Fletcher and trainer John Simms their second cup victory on the card.

It was a good day at the betting window with the handle hitting the $2 million mark.

There are eleven more racing days left in the 2021 Fort Erie racing calendar.

For more information, please visit forterieracing.com.

(Courtesy Fort Erie Race Track)