Mansetti gives Attard third win in King's Plate

Trainer Kevin Attard captured the $725,444 King's Plate for the third time in four years, and his first with a colt, when Mansetti turned in a front-running clinic Saturday in Canada's most prestigious event for three-year-olds.

One of three Attard trainees in the Plate, all of whom were sent off at double-digit odds, Mansetti made the front shortly after a quarter mile, snuck away from the pack on the far turn, and finished strong to win by 2 1/2 lengths under 20-year-old jockey Pietro Moran.

“You know, he relaxed so good. And no one wanted the lead, really. And he got up there, and, man, he relaxed, and I just talked to him the whole way," Moran said. "And when I chirped at him around the turn, he gave it to me. And I knew – I took a peek back down the lane – and I saw no one was coming. I couldn’t stop screaming to the wire.”

Moran's father, David, also rode in the Plate, finishing eighth aboard William T.

A one-length winner of the 1 1/16-mile Marine (G3) in his prep for the King's Plate, Mansetti nonetheless was dismissed in the betting at 18-1 and returned $38.70 after completing 1 1/4 miles on Tapeta in 2:03.68.

"He showed a lot of talent from a young age, and I really thought he was going to be a good horse, but he just got so kind of keen and eager as a baby that you didn’t think he’d stretch out," Attard said. "He really changed from two to three."

The King's Plate was the fifth win in eight starts, and fourth in a stakes, for Mansetti, who races for Al and Bill Ulwelling. In addition to the Marine, he captured the Clarendon S. last November and the Woodstock S. in late April, both over six furlongs.

Tom's Magic, who had not previously raced in Canada, rallied for second, finishing two lengths ahead of 7-2 post-time favorite Notorious Gangster. Scorching was a neck behind in fourth and was followed by Dewolf, Faber, Watsonville Red, William T, No Time, Runaway Again, Sedburys Ghost, Mythical Man, and Ashley's Archer.

Attard, who captured the Plate with the fillies Moira in 2022 and Caitlinhergrtness in 2024, did not immediately commit Mansetti to the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales S., which is run over dirt at Fort Erie in September. Mansetti finished well up the track in the Jerome S. in his only prior start on dirt in early January, but Attard excused the effort due to the deep nature of the Aqueduct strip that day.

Mansetti was bred in Ontario by Jungle Racing and is a son of Collected and the Sky Mesa mare Gidget Girl, who has also produced stakes winner Straight Up. He most recently sold for $40,000 at the OBS April juvenile sale.