Society’s Chairman Son Paramount Prince Crowned in Historic King’s Plate

Just as he did in the Plate Trial on July 23, Michael J. Langlois and Gary Barber’s Paramount Prince went straight to the front and was never seriously threatened en route to a 1 1/2-length victory in the 164th running of the $1-million King’s Plate at Woodbine.

Previously run as the Queen’s Plate during the reign of England’s Queen Elizabeth, the King´s Plate is the signature race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

Paramount Prince is the second Classic winner for the Shannondoe Farm-based Society´s Chairman. He previously sired Horse of the Year Caren, who counts two-thirds of the Canadian Filly Triple Crown among her nine career triumphs.

Seven-time Sovereign Award winner Patrick Husbands was aboard Paramount Prince for trainer Mark Casse, who has 15 Sovereign Awards to his credit, including the last 12 in succession. It was the third Plate victory for both Husbands and Casse, the two having teamed up previously with the filly Lexie Lou in 2014. Both of Casse’s previous plate winners were fillies, the other coming with Wonder Gadot in 2018.

Bred by Ericka Nadine Rusnak, Paramount Prince ran the 1 1/4 miles on the Tapeta all-weather surface in 2:01.93 after setting all the fractions: :23.28, :47.41, 1:11.81, and 1:36.47. He´s out of the Eddington daughter Platinum Steel and was originally purchased at the 2021 CTHS Yearling Sale by Michael

Casse gave credit to his longtime Woodbine assistant David Adams – who he met through Griffith – for the stable’s success. “Everything you see here is because of the job David does,” Casse said. “He does a tremendous job and we have a great relationship. I talk to him like 30 times a day.”

Paramount Prince, produced from the Eddington mare, Platinum Steel, was purchased by co-owner Longlois for U.S.$16,647 at the 2021 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society Canadian-bred yearling sale in Ontario. Bred by Ericka Nadine Rusnak, he was consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales Agency, agent.

Trained by Jamie Attard when he debuted with a nine-length victory last Nov. 12 at Woodbine, Paramount Prince finished third in the Clarendon Stakes the following month after Barber had bought an interest in the gelding. He had been transferred to Casse by the time he returned to Woodbine in the spring, finishing second both in an allowance race and in the Queenston Stakes before stretching out to two turns for the first time in the Plate Trial, which he won by five lengths.

Paramount Prince bounded to the front in the King’s Plate and set quick fractions (compared to some undercard races on the all-weather Tapeta surface where half-mile times were 50 seconds or more), though he was not under any pressure. Stablemate Elysian Field, who won the Woodbine Oaks by 2 1/4 lengths for Casse, slipped through along the rail and loomed a threat at the top of the stretch. But that threat was short-lived, and Paramount Prince held sway to the finish.

Casse did not rule out a start for Paramount Prince in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie on Sept. 12, run over 1 3/16 miles on dirt. The series concludes with the Breeders’ Stakes at a mile and one-half on turf back at Woodbine on Oct. 1.

edited from http://www.paulickreport.com