Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 18, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba C2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM T ORONTO — Pietro Moran will for- ever have family bragging rights. The 20-year-old apprentice jockey rode Mansetti to a stunning near wire-to-wire win in the $1-million King’s Plate on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack. Moran’s victory came in just his second Plate after finishing fourth last year aboard Pierre. Moran, Woodbine’s leading jockey with 65 wins this season, guided Man- setti, an 18-1 pick, across the finish line 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 opening jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown. David Moran has never won the Plate but was a close second in 2021 with Riptide Rock, just a head behind Safe Conduct. “It’s just special,” said a beaming Pietro Moran. “I got to beat my dad in the biggest race of the year. “It’s pretty special.” Moran earned Kevin Attard, Can- ada’s champion trainer last year, his third Plate victory and second in as many years. Mansetti finished 2½ lengths ahead of Tom’s Magic, while Notorious Gangster finished third. “Obviously I’m very proud of him,” Attard said of Moran. “To accomplish this feat at this young of an age, it’s just a testament to what the future holds for him. “From the day his dad dropped him off, he just shown a lot of poise, class, respect and was a natural. Winning the Plate is very special but to win it with Pietro, it’s just that much more.” Attard also won the Grade 2 bet365 King Edward Stakes with Gas Me Up one race after the Plate. He added the bet365 Soaring Free Stakes with Two Out Hero a race later. Scorching took the early lead but was quickly overshadowed by Moran and Mansetti to his inside. Shortly af- ter the opening quarter, Mansetti took control and was never really threat- ened throughout the race. “You know, he relaxed so good and no one wanted the lead, really,” Moran said. “And he got up there, and, man, he relaxed, and I just talked to him the whole way. “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.” The remainder of the field, in order of finish, included: Scorching; Dewolf; Faber; Watsonville Red; William T; No Time; Runaway Again; Sedburys Ghost; Mythical Man; and Ashley’s Archer. Dewolf and Faber were Attard’s other race entries Saturday. Mansetti earned a second straight win and third in five starts this year. The horse now has five victories from eight lifetime starts and the $600,000 winner’s share pushed its career earnings over $855,000. Attard wouldn’t rule out Mansetti chasing the second leg of the Canadi- an Triple Crown, the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on Sept. 9 at Fort Erie Racetrack. The last Triple Crown winner was Wando in 2003. “I’m not really concerned about the dirt (Prince of Wales is on the sur- face, which Mansetti also trains on) and the shorter distance (1 3/16 miles) should help him too, I think,” Attard said. “Right now I just want to enjoy the moment and let him dictate to us if he’s ready to proceed to the next leg. “There’s nothing more than wanting to win a Triple Crown. It hasn’t been done in a long time and I would have no objection to being the trainer to do that.” Earlier, She Feels Pretty took the lead on the final turn then held off a hard-charging Diamond Rain to win the $750,000 E.P. Taylor turf event by a head. That earned She Feels Pretty an automatic berth into the US$2-mil- lion Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. She Feels Pretty, the 2/5 favourite ridden by John Velazquez, won the 1 1/4-mile race in 2:00.80. British horse Diamond Rain and jockey William Buick made a valiant effort to finish second after a poor start left the 2-1 second choice last in the seven-horse field. Ready for Shirl, trained by Wood- bine’s Roger Attfield and ridden by Javier Castellano, came on late to finish third ahead of French horse Venencia. Two years ago, She Feels Pretty won the Grade 1 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes at Woodbine to earn a Breeders’ Cup entry. She finished third in the Juvenile Filly Turf at Santa Anita. Velazquez said his horse had its own issues Saturday, adding She Feels Pretty was hit from behind up the backstretch. “From then on, it was a wrestling match with her,” he said. “I didn’t want to move too soon (because) the horse from Europe (Diamond Rain) was really close and really good. “I wrestled with (She Feels Pretty) past the 5/16ths pole and then finally put my hands down to let her do her thing. The last 16th of a mile, I don’t know what she saw, but she got lost. I thought, ‘Come on, don’t do this to me now. We’re almost there,’ but she got it done.” Caitlinhergrtness, the ’24 Plate win- ner, ran in the race, looking to become the first horse to record the E.P. Tay- lor-Plate double. She started strong, standing second behind Hurricane Clair for the first three-quarters of a mile. But Caitlinhergrtness — named after WNBA star Caitlin Clark — was no match for either She Feels Pretty or Diamond Rain down the stretch, finishing fifth. The E.P. Taylor was held Saturday rather than its usual September slot because upgrades to the E.P. Taylor Turf Course will begin shortly. — The Canadian Press Boys 5th Place Game: Manitoba 95, Nova Scotia 90 Boys Criterium Final: Ewan Dalling placed 10th Loïc Savard placed 20th Marcus Huebner placed 27th Soren Weselake placed 28th Tyler Hartle DNF Girls Criterium Final: Isla Thomas placed 11th Addy Champagne placed 12th Rielle Champagne placed 16th Pinja Hyytiainen placed 26th Boys Single Handed ILCA: Quinn Haines placed 10th Girls Single Handed ILCA: Lola Parkinson placed 7th Boys Double Handed 29er: Team Manitoba placed 7th Girls Double Handed 29er: Team Manitoba placed 7th 7th Place Game: Manitoba 3, P.E.I. 4 Boys Beach: (Semifinal) British Columbia 2, Manitoba 0 (Bronze) Ontario 2, Manitoba 1 Girls 5th Place Game: British Columbia 2, Manitoba 0 GOLD: 6 *Addi Bailey-Ross (Swimming) *Maxine Lavitt x2 (Swimming) *Teagen Ann Purvis x3 (Swimming) SILVER: 6 *Luke Enns (Kayak) *Maxine Lavitt x3 (Swimming) *Ben Purvis (Swimming) *Teagen Ann Purvis (Swimming) BRONZE: 5 *Luke Enns (Kayak) *Ben Purvis (Swimming) *Aleksander Seremak (Canoe) *Soren Weselake (Cycling) *William Wintoniw (Canoe) SPORTS MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2025 Basketball DAY 7 RESULTS ● AUGUST 16 Tennis MANITOBA ● MEDAL COUNT Sailing Volleyball Cycling SAMMY KOGAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Mansetti with jockey Pietro Moran leads the field in the 166th running of the King’s Plate horse race at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto Saturday. FRANK GUNN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Jockey Pietro Moran celebrates aboard Mansetti after winning the King’s Plate. Mansetti marches to King’s Plate victory DAN RALPH Apprentice jockey Moran guides winner in $1-M opening jewel of Canadian Triple Crown MASON — Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand won the Cincinnati Open women’s doubles championship with a straight-sets victory over Guo Hanyo of China and Alexandra Panova of Russia on Sunday night. The second-seeded combo of Dabrowski and Routliffe — who won the U.S. Open women’s doubles title together in 2023 — defeated the unseeded Hanyo and Panova 6-4, 6-3 in one hour, 20 minutes on P&G Center Court in the WTA 1000 event. Dabrowski and Routliffe led in key categories such as aces (5-1), winners (22-19), first serve points (71 per cent to 63), return games won (33 per cent to 11), maximum games in a row (3-1). Hanyo and Panova had 17 un- forced errors and one double fault. Hanyo and Panova advanced to the final with a 6-3, 6-2 upset over the top-seeded Italian pairing of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in Saturday’s semifinals. Dabrowski and Routliffe battled to beat the sixth-seeded duo of Ellen Perez of Australia and Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine 3-6, 6-3, 12-10 in Friday’s semifinals. Routliffe won the women’s dou- bles in Cincinnati last year playing with American Asia Muhammad. — The Canadian Press Dabrowski, Routliffe win Cincinnati Open women’s doubles MONTREAL —Brandie Wilker- son and Melissa Humana-Pare- des are golden again on home sand. The Paris Olympics silver medal- lists defeated Germany’s Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann on Sunday to capture the Montreal Elite16 title on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Wilkerson and Humana-Pare- des took the gold-medal match in straight sets (21-15, 22-20) at Parc Jean-Drapeau, two years after winning the first title of their partnership at the same event. “There’s something magical about playing on home soil. Clearly for us, we thrive on this energy and this environment. This truly felt like a homecom- ing after the Olympic Games,” said Humana-Paredes. “Our goal was to perform at the highest level at this tourna- ment, and I’m go glad it worked out. It was a highlight of the sea- son so far for us — the emotions, the energy, the crowd. It was a peak moment for sure!” Wilkerson was thrilled with the end result after a tough tournament. “We knew this was going to be tough. I think some teams were trying to take advantage that a lot of the pressure and attention was on us, but we use it toward building momentum. These are amazing athletes that bring out the best in us. There were such exciting games and it was great to come out on top.” The Toronto duo also got some revenge en route to the final. Earlier on Sunday, Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes earned a semifinal victory (21-11, 22-20) over Brazil’s Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos (Duda) Lisboa in a rematch of last sum- mer’s gold-medal match at the Paris Games. Müller and Tillmann won in three sets (15-21, 21-18, 15-10) over Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova to book their ticket to the final. Germany will host the next Beach Pro Tour Elite event of the 2025 season, as the city of Ham- burg will be the next stop later this month, from Aug. 27-31. — The Canadian Press Canadian duo golden at Montreal beach volleyball ;