Sunday?s 151st running of the Queen?s Plate has turned into a free-for-all.
Fan favourites are disappearing so unexpectedly it wouldn?t be surprising if the Royal Tour suddenly announced Queen
Elizabeth II had twisted a fetlock and would be giving it a miss.
This week, Artic Fern came up sore, joining winterbook favourite Hollinger ensconced with vet bills rather than getting a royal pat on a winning nose. There were defections, such as Embur?s Song, gone instead to the Bison City. This opened the starting gate to opportunists who previously had seen little chance of a payday.
?This is an open race. You couldn?t be surprised if any of them jumped up and took it,? said trainer Sue Leslie, who along with co-owners Curtis Joseph and Don Meehan, anteed up a $25,000 supplemental fee to get filly Moment of Majesty into the race. At 12-1, and with Queen Elizabeth II in the seats, Moment of Majesty is the day?s best hunch bet.
FOUR FOR THE MONEY
The race favourite is Hotep, a 3-1 choice, and brother to last year?s Plate winner, Eye of the Leopard. Trained by four-time Plate winner Mark Frostad, Hotep won the Wando Stakes despite being ?flat,? and was second in the Marine Stakes.
But there?s nothing to suggest Hotep remains unassailable. Mobilizer, trained by Roger Attfield, seeking his record-setting ninth Plate win, the rambunctious Big Red Mike and the game filly combo of Roan Inish and trainer Carolyn Costigan all have occasion to believe fortuity will smile upon them.
Mobilizer, second choice at 7-2, has hit the board in all four lifetime starts, including a resolute second to Big Red Mike in the Plate Trial.
?I would like to have seen him win (the Plate Trial), but he ran a good race,? Attfield said. ?He was really tight inside and he gets a little antagonized when that happens. We thought maybe he hung a bit ... and the other horse really dug in and ran hard.?
Hard, that?s Big Red Mike. One stubborn, recalcitrant ball of fury and fire. In the post parade for the Plate Trial, Big Red Mike tossed jockey Rico da Silva, who climbed back on and ran him to victory. A horse with heart. Sometimes, maybe too much for his own good.
Then there is Roan Inish, at 9-2. Both horse and trainer are a touch green: Roan Inish has run just twice this year. Costigan, 28, has been a licenced trainer for all of one year and is in her first Plate. But she calls her horse ?gutsy? and she appears likewise; she?s anything but awe-struck by her opposition or surroundings.
?There?s a lot of different ways to get to the finish line and I don?t think there?s a right way of getting there,? Costigan said. ?If you walk through Sheikh Mohammed?s barn they?re all million dollar babies and it can make the small guy feel like: ?How do I have a chance against this?? But you can?t buy the finish line. That gives all of us an equal opportunity.?
FOUR FOR THE SHOW
After the Big Four there are just as many horses lurking on the edge of distinction and capable of unanticipated excellence on a given Sunday.
Giant?s Tomb, at 12-1, is strong and if jockey Mike Smith can get his attention this could be a defining career moment. MobtheWarrior is expected to get attention from punters at 10-1 after placing third in the Plate Trial despite going wide the entire race.
Dark Cloud Dancer is a grandson of Triple Crown winner Dance Smartly. Enough said. D?s Wando was a disappointing seventh in the Plate Trial but jockey Emma Jayne Wilson could make a contender out of a plough horse. And, D?s Wando is no ploughhorse, winning twice last year.
Wilson won this race in 2007 aboard Mike Fox.
?I used to drive down the 427 when we lived in Brampton. I always loved horses and before I started working at the track I?d have been satisfied to just ride a few times and finish last every time as long as I got the chance to follow my dream to become a jockey,? Wilson said. ?But it doesn?t work that way. I?m competitive. When I realized I could be successful I locked onto that like a bull on a red cloth.?
TWO FROM THE HEART
Jim and Mel Lawson?s Ghost Fleet and the Joseph-owned, Moment of Majesty provide the day?s sentimental indulgence.
In 1984, Jim watched his father?s horse, Let?s Go Blue, finish second to Key to the Moon after a controversial bumping incident. There are those who believe that should have been Lawson?s Plate. Now 87, he?s still waiting.
Joseph and Meehan decided to enter when Embur?s Song took a pass.
?To be perfectly honest I wasn?t keen on this jump, but the filly was doing well and we had a couple defections from the field,? trainer/co-owner Sue Leslie said. ?And, it?s the Plate. You don?t get many chances and Curtis and Donnie put a lot of money into the business. I got out-voted 2-1.?
This is one case when Leslie wouldn?t mind being wrong.
THREE FOR THE RIDE
Smart Sky and Who We Gunna Call have never won a stakes race and Vicar Street is trying to become the first maiden to win here since Scatter the Gold in 2000. All are 30-1. Vicar Street seemed the most likely long-shot choice but drew the dreaded No. 1 post. Still, as Smart Sky?s owner Scott Abbott notes, ?you can?t win it unless you?re in it.?
Smart Sky will get backing, if for no other reason than with the lovely and talented Chantal Sutherland in the irons, it will make those sweaty post-race photos a whole lot easier on the eyes. Furthermore, this might be a good time to remember that as sure-things go the Plate has been anything but. In the last 15 editions, only twice has the favourite also been the winner.
--sunmedia
Fan favourites are disappearing so unexpectedly it wouldn?t be surprising if the Royal Tour suddenly announced Queen
Elizabeth II had twisted a fetlock and would be giving it a miss.
This week, Artic Fern came up sore, joining winterbook favourite Hollinger ensconced with vet bills rather than getting a royal pat on a winning nose. There were defections, such as Embur?s Song, gone instead to the Bison City. This opened the starting gate to opportunists who previously had seen little chance of a payday.
?This is an open race. You couldn?t be surprised if any of them jumped up and took it,? said trainer Sue Leslie, who along with co-owners Curtis Joseph and Don Meehan, anteed up a $25,000 supplemental fee to get filly Moment of Majesty into the race. At 12-1, and with Queen Elizabeth II in the seats, Moment of Majesty is the day?s best hunch bet.
FOUR FOR THE MONEY
The race favourite is Hotep, a 3-1 choice, and brother to last year?s Plate winner, Eye of the Leopard. Trained by four-time Plate winner Mark Frostad, Hotep won the Wando Stakes despite being ?flat,? and was second in the Marine Stakes.
But there?s nothing to suggest Hotep remains unassailable. Mobilizer, trained by Roger Attfield, seeking his record-setting ninth Plate win, the rambunctious Big Red Mike and the game filly combo of Roan Inish and trainer Carolyn Costigan all have occasion to believe fortuity will smile upon them.
Mobilizer, second choice at 7-2, has hit the board in all four lifetime starts, including a resolute second to Big Red Mike in the Plate Trial.
?I would like to have seen him win (the Plate Trial), but he ran a good race,? Attfield said. ?He was really tight inside and he gets a little antagonized when that happens. We thought maybe he hung a bit ... and the other horse really dug in and ran hard.?
Hard, that?s Big Red Mike. One stubborn, recalcitrant ball of fury and fire. In the post parade for the Plate Trial, Big Red Mike tossed jockey Rico da Silva, who climbed back on and ran him to victory. A horse with heart. Sometimes, maybe too much for his own good.
Then there is Roan Inish, at 9-2. Both horse and trainer are a touch green: Roan Inish has run just twice this year. Costigan, 28, has been a licenced trainer for all of one year and is in her first Plate. But she calls her horse ?gutsy? and she appears likewise; she?s anything but awe-struck by her opposition or surroundings.
?There?s a lot of different ways to get to the finish line and I don?t think there?s a right way of getting there,? Costigan said. ?If you walk through Sheikh Mohammed?s barn they?re all million dollar babies and it can make the small guy feel like: ?How do I have a chance against this?? But you can?t buy the finish line. That gives all of us an equal opportunity.?
FOUR FOR THE SHOW
After the Big Four there are just as many horses lurking on the edge of distinction and capable of unanticipated excellence on a given Sunday.
Giant?s Tomb, at 12-1, is strong and if jockey Mike Smith can get his attention this could be a defining career moment. MobtheWarrior is expected to get attention from punters at 10-1 after placing third in the Plate Trial despite going wide the entire race.
Dark Cloud Dancer is a grandson of Triple Crown winner Dance Smartly. Enough said. D?s Wando was a disappointing seventh in the Plate Trial but jockey Emma Jayne Wilson could make a contender out of a plough horse. And, D?s Wando is no ploughhorse, winning twice last year.
Wilson won this race in 2007 aboard Mike Fox.
?I used to drive down the 427 when we lived in Brampton. I always loved horses and before I started working at the track I?d have been satisfied to just ride a few times and finish last every time as long as I got the chance to follow my dream to become a jockey,? Wilson said. ?But it doesn?t work that way. I?m competitive. When I realized I could be successful I locked onto that like a bull on a red cloth.?
TWO FROM THE HEART
Jim and Mel Lawson?s Ghost Fleet and the Joseph-owned, Moment of Majesty provide the day?s sentimental indulgence.
In 1984, Jim watched his father?s horse, Let?s Go Blue, finish second to Key to the Moon after a controversial bumping incident. There are those who believe that should have been Lawson?s Plate. Now 87, he?s still waiting.
Joseph and Meehan decided to enter when Embur?s Song took a pass.
?To be perfectly honest I wasn?t keen on this jump, but the filly was doing well and we had a couple defections from the field,? trainer/co-owner Sue Leslie said. ?And, it?s the Plate. You don?t get many chances and Curtis and Donnie put a lot of money into the business. I got out-voted 2-1.?
This is one case when Leslie wouldn?t mind being wrong.
THREE FOR THE RIDE
Smart Sky and Who We Gunna Call have never won a stakes race and Vicar Street is trying to become the first maiden to win here since Scatter the Gold in 2000. All are 30-1. Vicar Street seemed the most likely long-shot choice but drew the dreaded No. 1 post. Still, as Smart Sky?s owner Scott Abbott notes, ?you can?t win it unless you?re in it.?
Smart Sky will get backing, if for no other reason than with the lovely and talented Chantal Sutherland in the irons, it will make those sweaty post-race photos a whole lot easier on the eyes. Furthermore, this might be a good time to remember that as sure-things go the Plate has been anything but. In the last 15 editions, only twice has the favourite also been the winner.
--sunmedia
