TORONTO — All signs point to Mansetti and jockey Pietro Moran making a run for the second jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown.
Trainer Kevin Attard said Friday that Mansetti continues to train and eat well following his solid 2 1/2-length win in the $1-million King's Plate on Aug. 16 at Woodbine Racetrack. Attard added Mansetti will train on dirt again Tuesday _ he breezed on that surface last week _ and then a firm decision will be made Wednesday on whether to have Moran and Mansetti compete in the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Racetrack on Sept. 9.
"He (Mansetti) is doing really well," Attard said. "He feels really good, he has good energy, his appetite and spirits appear to be really good.
"We gave him a little work on the dirt training track (last Tuesday), the plan is to work him again (this) Tuesday and if all goes well he'll be going to Fort Erie … all systems are pointing that he's going."
Moran, a 20-year-old apprentice jockey, rode Mansetti to a stunning near wire-to-wire win in the Plate. Moran earned the victory in just his second Plate after finishing fourth last year aboard Pierre.
Moran, Woodbine's leading jockey with 74 wins this season, guided Mansetti, an 18-1 pick, to victory in the 1 1/4-mile race on Woodbine's Tapeta course in 2:03.68. He topped a 13-horse field that included his father, David, who was aboard eighth-place finisher William T.
Pietro Moran and Mansetti lined up on the rail with David Moran and William T right beside them in the No. 2 post. It marked the first time in Plate history that a father and son both rode in the Plate.
Attard said if Mansetti does run in the Prince of Wales, there will be no change regarding who will ride him.
"No, definitely not," Attard said emphatically. "It's Pietro's horse."
Moran and Mansetti delivered Attard, Canada's champion trainer last season, a third Plate victory. But a decision to run Mansetti at Fort Erie would give Attard his first shot at a Canadian Triple Crown as scheduling issues prevented his previous two Plate winners _ fillies Moira (2022) and Caitlinhergrtness (2024) _ from taking aim at the Prince of Wales.
The second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown not only goes on a different surface (dirt) but is shorter than the Plate (1 3/16 miles). Neither should present a major issue for Mansetti, who has trained and raced on dirt and easily covered the Plate distance.
The '25 season has been a good one to date for the three-year-old colt. Mansetti has won his last two starts and recorded three victories from five races overall.
He was fifth among seven horses in the US$150,000 Jerome Stakes, a one-mile race on dirt at Aqueduct on Jan. 4. But Attard said Mansetti is nowhere near the same now.
"The track was a very labouring, deep track so I'm not going to judge him by that race," Attard said. "I think he's a better horse than that day.
"He has worked well so far and I think at this point, as long as he's doing well he deserves another chance at it."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2025.
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
