My Boy Prince dazzles in 86th Cup and Saucer Stakes

TORONTO, October 14, 2023 – My Boy Prince proved to be much the best with an easy-looking gate to wire victory in Saturday’s 86^th running of the Cup and Saucer Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack. 

Making his first start since finishing runner-up in the Grade 1 bet365 Summer Stakes on September 16, My Boy Prince bested nine Canadian foaled two-year-old rivals in Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile event on the E.P. Taylor Turf. 

Sent off at odds of 1/5, the Gary Barber owned My Boy Prince had a slight bobble coming out of the gate, but still managed to move out to a clear lead for jockey Sahin Civaci. Arashi ran a couple lengths off the controlling heavy favourite, while the bulk of the field was a few more lengths back. 

With the field at his mercy, My Boy Prince and Civaci remained calm on the lead with a few rivals moving to within a length or two coming off the turn. Straightening out for home, Civaci finally unleashed My Boy Prince, who stormed away impressively to win by 4 1/4 lengths over the “good” E.P. Taylor Turf. 

Arashi maintained second, while King Rosso was third. 

The fractions and final time were :24.34, :49.08, 1:13.88, 1:36.98 and 1:43.30. 

Trained by Mark Casse, My Boy Prince now has three wins, including a 14-length victory in the Simcoe Stakes, and two seconds from five starts. The son of Cairo Prince has stamped himself as the front-runner for year-end Canadian honours.  

“He handled (the turf) great,” said Civaci. “He had easy fractions up front and I was comfortable. I held him for a pretty long while and no one was coming up and when I asked him he kicked on really nice like a good horse. 

“It’s an honour to ride a horse like this. I truly appreciate the opportunities I’m getting from this barn, and I thank Gary Barber and Mark Casse.” 

Trainer Casse has now won the Cup and Saucer Stakes seven-times, including four of the last five years, while Civaci adds another stakes score to his breakout 2023 season.  

My Boy Prince paid $2.40 to win, while the $2 Exacta with Arashi returned $11.20, the $1 Trifecta capped by King Rosso paid $20.10 and the $1 Superfecta rounded up by English Jubilee paid $114.95.