My Boy Prince proved to be much the best with an easy-looking gate-to-wire victory in Saturday’s 86th running of the Cup and Saucer Stakes for Canadian-bred 2-year-olds at Woodbine Racetrack.
Making his first start since finishing runner-up in the bet365 Summer Stakes (G1) on September 16, My Boy Prince bested nine rival in Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile event on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course.
Sent off at odds of 1-5 odds, Gary Barber’s My Boy Prince bobble slightly leaving the gate but still managed to move out to a clear lead under Sahin Civaci. Arashi ran a couple lengths off the controlling heavy favorite, while the bulk of the field was a few more lengths back.
Arashi held on for 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 put of the Silent Name (Jpn) mare Hopping Not Hoping has stamped himself the front-runner for year-end Canadian honors.
“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 honor 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.”
Casse has 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, who was bred by Murray Smith, paid $2.40 to win.
