No one’s won a Canadian Triple Crown in 16 years, can One Bad Boy finally break that dry spell? First, he’ll need to deliver at the Prince of Wales Stakes. We have a complete betting guide to the upcoming race, including odds, tips, and picks!
All eyes on the Fort Erie Race Track in Ontario, Canada — the host of the 2019 Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of Canada's vaunted Triple Crown series. Tuesday, July 23 marks the 84th running of the famed event and it's a five-horse field vying to win. Online sportsbooks currently have the Prince of Wales odds at:
The winner of Tuesday's race, which spans one and three-sixteenth miles, will net a $400,000 purse. However, One Bad Boy has a little more at stake.
With a win, plus another at the Breeders' Stake, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation has pledged a $500,000 bonus for the Triple Crown sweep. No pressure, no diamonds, as they say.
Just how hard is to win Canada's Triple Crown? Welp, it's only been done 12 times ever — falling right in line with America's Triple Crown, which has 13 all-time winners. In Canada, the last colt to pull off the feat was Wando in 2003.
The Prince of Wales Stakes has a long history of tripping up horses in their quest for the trifecta.
Get this, since Wando's history-making moment in 2003, only one horse that won the Queen's Stake — the first gem of the Triple Crown — came back to win the Prince of Wales Stakes.
It actually came last year courtesy of Wonder Gadot, who ended up skipping the final Breeders' Stake and a chance at going in the record books.
Enough about the past, though. History is within reach for One Bad Boy after a statement win at Queen's Plate. The California-bred horse, in his first race on Canadian soil, posted a winning time of 2:02:98 and took home the $1 million prize.
One Bad Boy held off a late rally from Avie's Flatter, outlasting it by three and a half lengths.
On the irons remains Flavien Prat. Many might remember the jockey for leading Country Horse to a shocking upset win at Kentucky Derby — with the help of a controversial disqualification on Maximum Security, of course.
It was the first time since 1998 that the same jockey won those two events during the same year.
One Bad Boy will start out of the rail in the trusty No. 1 position. Riding high on so much momentum, we like a light bet on him to win back-to-back races. The keyword is "light bet" because there's one horse we like slightly more.
While you can argue history is strongly against One Bad Boy, you can't say the same for Mark Casse. Matter of fact, history bodes well for the thoroughbred trainer. Casse is leading Skywire into a racing field that he knows all too well.
He was the trainer behind the aforementioned Wonder Gadot, who won last year's Prince of Wales Stakes and Queen's Plate.
Even before that, Casse-led horses have won the event three other times. A victory on Tuesday would tie Casse with Roger Attfield for most wins all-time at the Prince of Wales Stakes.
Casse's good juju doesn't stop there, though. He's been on a complete tear this season. His horses won two of the American Triple Crown gems — Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. It just feels like 2019 is the year of Casse.
Admittedly, Skywire did underachieve at Queen's Plate. A bad start out of the gate, namely a swipe courtesy of Tone Broke, dropped Skywire all the way into an 11th-place finish out of 14 horses.
However, we got a feeling that was a fluke happenstance. This colt can flat out run, evident by the 105 Equibase Speed Figure posted back in April.
If you haven't figured it out by now, we're banking on Skywire to make up for lost ground at Fort Erie. Casse is a proven winner and we've yet to see the best out of Skywire — until Tuesday that is.
Betting pick: Skywire (+300)
So you're not sold on the Triple Crown hopeful or the Casse prodigy? Fine, we have one more horse that should command your attention — Avie's Flatter.
With the second-best Prince of Wales Stakes betting odds, Avie's Flatter doesn't exactly fit the darkhorse mold. However, he is flying a little underneath the radar.
The colt will be jockeyed by one Javier Castellano, who just happens to be a world-class rider.
Castellano's list of accomplishments reads like a laundry list — wins at Preakness Stakes (twice), Eclipse Award For Outstanding Jockey (four times), and endless rankings for yearly earners among jockeys. His history alone is worth throwing a bet on Avie's Flatter.
Of course, that's not to say the horse doesn't have his own pedigree. After all, Avie's Flatter pushed One Bad Boy to the brink a few weeks ago at Queen's Plate.
He'll at least be in the final hunt again come Tuesday. In a five-horse field, that means there's a good probability that he can win the whole thing.
Now that you're caught up on the race, it's time to get your Prince of Wales Stakes picks in. Head over to one of our partners below to lock in your wager before Tuesday's start time.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
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| #1 |  | Click Here To Find Out What Offers Sports Interaction May Have | BET! | |
| #2 |  | Click Here To Find Out What Offers William Hill May Have | BET! |
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