Texan Steals Prince of Wales

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Texan Steals Prince of Wales

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American uber trainer, Todd Pletcher was poised Sunday afternoon to runaway with the second jewel of the Canadian Horse Racing Triple-Crown and I for one couldn’t bare to watch. It’s not that I’m particularly patriotic when it come to the ponies, in fact I often make a good chunk of my yearly income betting "invaders" whom hometown wiseguys have trouble latching onto. It’s that it just gets my goat to see a guy like Todd Pletcher waltz across the border to hoodwink hardworking Canadians, who are far to engaged in the festivities to see it coming. There is really no shame in losing to the "Pletcher Machine", a machine that churned out a grand total of $20, 867, 842 in purse earning in 2005 and a Belmont winning filly (Rags to Riches) in 2007 but instead of making the trip to the "boarder oval", Fort Erie race-track for the 73rd running of the Prince of Wales Stakes I went to the ball-game.

The reason I couldn’t watch is simple, Todd Pletcher for all his accolades struggles to capture Americas premier races, in 2007 Pletcher sent seven horses to gate in the first two legs of the American Horseracing Triple-Crown and failed to challenge either Street Sense or Curlin , respectively, so to watch him shrewdly pull the wool over the eyes of Canadian horseracing was something I was flat out unprepared to do.

Early in June Mr. Pletcher had dreams of stealing the Canadian Triple Crown with highly toted colt by the name of Harlem Rocker, Harlem Rocker was shipped into Woodbine racetrack for the Queens Plate Trail. The effort however was a sham , revealing Harlem Rockers displeasure with Woodbines synthetic racing surface, Pletcher subsequently removed his colt name from consideration for the 149th Queens Plate on June 22.

Pletcher shipped his colt home to Saratoga immediately after his poor performance in the Plate Trial intent on regrouping, re-gripping and re-loading in time to once again ship his colt north of the border. This time to Fort Erie racetrack just 95 miles south of the Woodbine racecourse where Harlem Rocker suffered his only career defeat, a cross boarder embarrassment that left Mr. Pletcher a bitter, defeated man.

It was no secret going into Sundays Prince of Wales stakes that Todd Pletcher meant business and was not going to ship his colt north of the peace bridge just to suffer another humiliating public embarrassment, Harlem Rocker was clearly going to win, the only question was....by how many?

8th race - Fort Erie - July 13, 2008

Pgm Horse                Win  Place Show

4       Harlem Rocker 4.30   3.40    2.50

5       East End Tap           13.30    6.30

2       Pronger                                 7.40

Z.Black