Stanley House Looms Large in Plate Trial

The CA$150,000 Plate Trial Stakes, a key prep for the Aug. 20 King’s Plate, has drawn 12 runners to compete July 23 at Woodbine. Both the Plate Trial and the King’s Plate are for 3-year-olds foaled in Canada.

Stanley House , trained by Mike De Paulo for John and Diana Russell, will make his stakes debut in what will be his seventh start. Since returning to Woodbine this spring and summer, Stanley ran second May 6 behind Tyson , subsequent winner of the Dominion Day Stakes (G3), before winning by a length June 18 in a 1 1/16-mile race on Tapeta under Luis Contreras.

“He finished strong and that’s the way he works and runs,” trainer Michael De Paulo said. “Luis had to stand up to pull him up on the backstretch. There was no easing to wire, he was running through it.”

De Paulo, who has 954 career wins, is in search of his first King’s Plate victory.

For now, he will focus his attention on the Plate Trial with a horse who has stamped himself as a top contender for this year’s CA $1 million Canadian classic.

“We’ll just look to keep the winning streak going. Ideally, it would be nice to win the race and not take too much out of him. Obviously, we are aiming for the King’s Plate, but for now, we’ll set our sights on Sunday. There are some people that say his sire means he won’t be able to get the Plate distance of a mile and a quarter, but Army Mule ran three times and won all those starts, including a grade 1, and he’s from the A.P. Indy sire line. The mother is by Unbridled’s Song, and there is plenty of stamina with Unbridled, so we’ll just have to show them.”

Simcoe , a son of Uncle Mo , goes after his third win in what will be the gelding’s sixth career start.

Trained by Katerina Vassilieva, Simcoe finished fifth in his most recent outing, the 1 1/16-mile Marine Stakes (G3) July 1.

Vassilieva, off to an outstanding start to the 2023 Woodbine season, is confident Simcoe can tackle the Plate Trial distance.

“He’s a plodder, a large, imposing horse, who is one-paced. But I do think that he can get the mile and one eighth, and beyond. He’s very laid-back, very professional. He loves his job. He’s just a true athlete.”

Mark Casse, who won the 2013 Plate Trial with Dynamic Sky , the 2018 edition with Telekenisis, and last year’s running with Sir for Sure , will send out Paramount Prince Sunday.

Owned by Michael Langlois and Gary Barber, the son of Society’s Chairman owns a 1-2-1 record from four starts and comes into the race off a second in the seven-furlong Queenston Stakes June 11.

“He’s got to step up his game,” Casse noted. “It’s going two turns, so we’ll see. Keeping our fingers crossed on that one.”