Mighty Heart

Mighty Heart (foaled April 5, 2017) is a one-eyed Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known for his victories in the 2020 Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown. His victory time of 2.01.98 is the Queen’s Plate second-fastest since 1957, when it moved to its current length at Woodbine Racetrack.

Mighty Heart
SireDramedy
GrandsireDistorted Humor
DamEmma's Bullseye
DamsireCity Place
SexColt
FoaledApril 5, 2017
CountryCanada
ColorBay
BreederLarry Cordes
OwnerLawrence Cordes
TrainerJosie Carroll
Record7: 3-0-1
EarningsUS$691,051[1]
Major wins
Canadian Triple Crown wins:
Queen's Plate (2020)
Prince of Wales Stakes (2020)

Background

Mighty Heart is a bay colt with a white stripe and three white socks. He was bred by Larry Cordes, for whom he races as a homebred, and was foaled at Curraghmore Farm in Waterdown, Ontario. Cordes also raced Mighty Heart's dam, Emma's Bullseye, who won her only start in 2011. Mighty Heart was her third foal: the other two were also winners. Mighty Heart is from the first crop of foals sired by Dramedy, a well bred won of Distorted Humor whose biggest win came in the Elkhorn Stakes on turf. Dramedy originally stood in Kentucky, then Oklahoma and was exported to Saudi Arabia in 2019.[2][3][4]

Mighty Heart's left eye had to be removed after it was damaged while he was turned out with his dam when he was only a few weeks old.[5]

Mighty Heart is trained by Canadian Hall of Famer Josie Carroll.[1]

Racing career

Mighty Heart did not race at age two. He made his first start as a three-year-old on February 21, 2020 in a maiden special weight at Fair Grounds in Louisiana in a race that was originally scheduled for the turf but was switched to dirt. He bumped with another horse at the start then lugged out badly on the first turn. Settling at the back of the pack down the backstretch, he failed to make up ground in the stretch and finished fourth.[6] He was a badly beaten tenth in his next start on March 21 at the Fair Grounds after once again bearing out on the turns.[7]

Mighty Heart was then shipped to Woodbine in Toronto, Ontario, where Carroll is one of the leading trainers. His return to racing was delayed by the closure of the track until June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] The closure also forced the postponement of the Queen's Plate, which would normally have been run in July, until September.[9][10]

He returned to racing on July 11 in a maiden special weight over ​1 1⁄16 miles on Woodbine's all weather main track. He settled in stalking position just off the pace set by Fort Hope and Artie My Boy, then took the lead in midstretch. He continued to draw away to win by ​4 1⁄4 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 82.[2][11] On August 1, he was entered in an allowance race at Woodbine over a distance of ​1 1⁄8 miles. He sat fairly close to the early leaders and made a wide move on the final turn to hit the lead in mid stretch. However, he could not match the closing kick of Timeskip and finished third, beaten by ​1 1⁄2 lengths.[12]

The Queen's Plate

On September 12, Mighty Heart faced a sharp increase in class when he was entered in the Queen's Plate, Canada's most famous horse race and the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. He was a 13-1 longshot in a field of fourteen that was considered fairly wide open. He was ridden for the first time by Daisuke Fukumoto, who decided to send Mighty Heart to the early lead since nobody else was eager to set the pace. Mighty Heart settled into rhythm and maintained a one length advantage for the first three-quarters of a mile. Clayton closed to within a head on the turn but Mighty Heart responded and pulled away down the stretch to win by ​7 1⁄2 lengths. Belichick, also trained by Carroll, finished second. Mighty Heart's time of 2:01.98 for ​1 1⁄4 miles was the second fastest in the history of the race, behind only Triple Crown champion Izvestia, who finished in 2:01​4⁄5.[3][13]

"I was concerned for a minute or two with the quick fractions but he looked like he was settling and doing it easily," Carroll said. "We knew he'd go all day and he sure did. You know what, he's just a very exciting horse who's come a long way for Mr. Cordes, who's had a lot of confidence in him from the start."[14]

The Prince of Wales Stakes

Mighty Heart's next start was on September 29 in the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, held at Fort Erie Racetrack over a natural dirt surface. He went off as the odds-on favourite in a field of nine. He rated in midpack towards the inside, not far off the pace. Turning into the stretch, Fukumoto angled him to the outside to find racing room. Mighty Heart drew clear to win by ​2 1⁄2 lengths ahead of Clayton.[15]

"This horse is a gift to me, my family and everybody who loves racing," Cordes said. "He was handicapped from day one. His future looked bleak at two weeks old because of the injury [to his eye], but we had faith in him from the day he stepped foot on the track."[16]

Breeders Stakes

Mighty Heart started in the Breeders' Stakes on October 24, run over ​1 1⁄2 miles on Woodbine's turf course (officially labeled as good after rains earlier in the week). He was trying to become the 13th Canadian Triple Crown winner and the first since Wando in 2003. However, he was involved in a speed duel with longshot Kunal, completing the first quarter in :23.69 and the half in :47.45. Kunal dropped back after three-quarters of a mile, finishing last, but Told it All then started to challenge. Mighty Heart led until near the head of the stretch but then faded to finish seventh behind his stablemate Belichick. "I thought Mighty Heart ran his little heart out", said Carroll. "Unfortunately he was hooked all the way with that one horse and never got a chance to relax."[17][18]

Later career

Mighty Heart's next start will be the Ontario Derby where he will face stablemate Belichick again, who won the Breeders' Stakes in their last match up.

Statistics
Date Age Distance Race Grade Track Surface Odds Field Finish Winning Time Winning
(Losing)
Margin		 Jockey Ref
Feb 21, 2020 3 1 mile Maiden Special Weight Fair Grounds Dirt 12.20 6 4 1:38.83 (​6 3⁄4 lengths) Colby Hernandez [6]
Mar 21, 2020 3 1 mile Maiden Special Weight Fair Grounds Turf 41.00 14 10[lower-alpha 1] 1:37.43 (​17 3⁄4 lengths) James Graham [7]
Jul 11, 2020 3 ​1 1⁄16 miles Maiden Special Weight Woodbine All weather 13.80 11 1 1:45.03 ​4 1⁄4 lengths Justin Stein [11]
Aug 1, 2020 3 ​1 1⁄8 miles Allowance Woodbine All weather 3.20 12 3 1:49.97 (​1 1⁄2 lengths) Justin Stein [12]
Sep 12, 2020 3 ​1 1⁄4 miles Queen's Plate n/a[lower-alpha 2] Woodbine Racetrack All weather 13.25 14 1 2:01.98 ​7 1⁄2 lengths Daisuke Fukumoto [13]
Sep 29, 2020 3 ​1 3⁄16 miles Prince of Wales Stakes n/a[lower-alpha 2] Fort Erie Race Track Dirt 0.85* 9 1 1:55.59 ​2 1⁄2 lengths Daisuke Fukumoto [19]
Oct 24, 2020 3 ​1 1⁄2 miles Breeders Stakes n/a[lower-alpha 2] Woodbine Racetrack Turf 1.15* 11 7 2:32.51 (​20 1⁄4 lengths} Daisuke Fukumoto [18]

An asterisk after the odds means Mighty Heart was the post-time favourite.

  1. Mighty Heart crossed the finish line in eleventh place but was elevated to tenth after Spanish Kingdom was disqualified
  2. The races in the Canadian Triple Crown are restricted to horses foaled in Canada and thus are not eligible for graded stakes status

Pedigree
Pedigree of Mighty Heart, bay colt, April 5, 2017[20]
Sire
Dramedy		 Distorted Humor Forty Niner Mr. Prospector
File
Danzig's Beauty Danzig
Sweetest Chant
She's a Winner A.P. Indy Seattle Slew
Weekend Surprise
Get Lucky Mr. Prospector
Dance Number
Dam
Emma's Bullseye		 City Place Storm Cat Storm Bird
Terlingua
Glitter Woman Glitterman
Carois Folly
Fleeting April Northern Afleet Afleet
Nuryette
April's Luci Sunny Clime
April Moment (family 42)[21]

Mighty Heart is inbred 4S x 4S x 5D to Mr. Prospector, meaning Mr. Prospector appears twice in the fourth generation of the sire's side of the pedigree and once in the fifth generation of the dam's side. He is also inbred 5S x 5S x 5D to Northern Dancer and 5S x 5D to Secretariat.

References
  1. "Mighty Heart (ON) profile". Equibase. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  2. "Woodbine Weekly Wrap July 6 - July 11 (Saturday)". Canadian Thoroughbred. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  3. Morrison, Jennifer. "One Eye, One Mighty Heart: Larry Cordes' Homebred Wins Plate". Canadian Thoroughbred. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. Morrison, Jennifer. "Welcoming the Next Generation at Curraghmore Farm". Canadian Thoroughbred. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  5. Morrison, Jennifer. "Mighty Heart Powers to Prince of Wales Victory; Chases Triple Crown". Canadian Thoroughbred. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. "Chart for February 21, 2020, Race 8". Equibase. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  7. "Chart for March 21, 2020, Race 4". Equibase. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  8. "Participants Excited for June 6 Woodbine Meet Opener". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  9. "Queen's Plate Postponed Due to Coronavirus". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  10. "Mighty Heart Leads Throughout in Queen's Plate Romp". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  11. "Chart for July 11, 2020, Race 4". Equibase. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  12. "Chart for August 1, race 11". Equibase. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  13. "Chart for the Queen's Plate". Equibase. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  14. "Mighty Heart leads throughout in Queen's Plate romp". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  15. King, Byron. "Mighty Heart earns decisive victory in Prince of Wales". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  16. Kershner, Gene. "Post Time: Mighty Heart Triple Crown hopes alive with win in Prince of Wales". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  17. "Belichick captures Breeders' Stakes to deny 1-eyed Mighty Heart the Canadian Triple Crown | CBC Sports". CBC. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  18. "Chart of the Breeders' Stakes". Equibase. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  19. "Chart for the Prince of Wales". Equibase. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  20. "Pedigree of Mighty Heart". Equineline. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  21. "Thoroughbred Bloodlines - Spanker Mare - Family 42". www.bloodlines.net. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
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