A fascinating Queen’s Plate, the 162nd edition that will have fans back on track following a quiet 2020 edition, is set for Sunday, August 22. The intrigue comes in the form of a well-matched field of Canadian-bred 3-year-olds traveling the testing distance of 1 1/4 miles and the fact that none of the trainers represented have ever won a Plate. Only two owners, Sam-Son Farm and Stronach Stables, have won Plates.
Some of the biggest names in Canadian racing lore are not here. Josie Carroll, a three-time Plate winner, does not have an entrant, nor does perennial leading trainer Mark Casse.
And trainer Kevin Attard could have almost one-third of the field; he has five listed in a probable field of 16.
Kevin, Gail Cox, Catherine Day Phillips, Carlos Grant, Don MacRae, Breeda Hayes, Tino Attard (Kevin’s father) and Sid Attard (Kevin’s uncle) are the Woodbine-based trainers who are seeking their first Plate victory. American trainers Graham Motion, Phil Serpe and Barclay Tagg are also expected to start horses.
What the Plate field this year lacks in quality – there are only three stakes winners in the field and no horse has won more than two races – it makes up for in quantity, offering many longtime horsepeople in Ontario the chance of a lifetime in racing.
The ATTARD family, synonymous with Thoroughbred racing in Ontario for decades ever since Joe Attard was the first to train horses at Woodbine, seems to have the Plate surrounded. Not only does Kevin have his five-pack which includes major contenders MUNNYFOR RO, a filly who won the Woodbine Oaks, HADDASSAH, a graded stakes-placed fellow and recent winner HARLAN ESTATE, but his 17-year-old son Joshua owns KEEP GRINDING, trained by Tino.
One Attard has won the Plate: Larry Attard rode Bompago to victory in 1983 and he is a Hall of Fame member and also a trainer.
Kevin has steadily risen up the trainer ranks since he began training in 2001. He assisted Tino at the outset and got a degree in accounting. He also suffered a very scary injury when his dad’s trainee Undue Influence kicked him in the face and caused much damage and a concussion.
In his second year of training, Kevin won 35 races and he seemed set for a quick rise to the top of the charts, but in 2004 and 2005 he had trouble getting clients and he won all of seven races in those two years. It was Steve Stavro’s Knob Hill Stable that put Kevin in the limelight as he put his skills as a horseman to work, winning the Prince of Wales Stakes in 2007 with Alezzandro, who had been second in that year’s Plate.
In the last decade Kevin has worked his way to the top and now has one of the biggest stables at Woodbine. His claim STARSHIP JUBILEE, with friend Soli Mehta, became a millionaire and was a multiple champion and he has also developed MELMICH and CALGARY CAT into millionaires after being claimed.
So what of his 2021 Plate chances?
MUNNYFOR RO has a perfect form cycle coming into the Plate as an improving filly who won the Oaks. Oaks winners and fillies are always dangerous in the Plate as four of the last 10 Plates have been won by fillies.
HADDASSAH is a homebred for Al and Bill Ulwelling who have made a big investment into Canadian racing in recent years. This bay gelding has only raced three times but won his debut as a big favourite Nov. 1, was third in a fast grass race June 13 and then third in the Marine Stakes (G3). The son of Air Force Blue will be ridden by Gary Boulanger.
HARLAN ESTATE has improved since arriving in Ontario from California. He is owned by NHL hockey player Erik Johnson and Exline-Border Racing and was bred by Ivan Dalos. Dalos has never won a Plate, but has come close. Interestingly, Kevin has a contender for Dalos in the Plate in HC Holiday. Harlan Estate, by Kantharos, won a 1 1/8 mile allowance/optional race on July 16 by a nose over Dance Some Mo, who is a Plate contender.
HC HOLIDAY, by Ontario sire Ami’s Holiday, has had a bizarre 2021 for Dalos. Following his 11th-place finish in his debut in Dec. 20 for Mike Maker, the Dalos-bred won his maiden on June 13 at 7 furlongs but was later disqualified due to a paperwork error over Lasix which is being appealed. The colt then finished a good fourth against older horses and then was third in the plate Trial behind Avoman.
TRUFFLE KING, a rich maiden for Derek Chin, was second in the Plate Trial but was disqualified and placed fourth.
As for his son’s KEEP GRINDING, the white-faced, hard-trying colt by Tizway who cost $11,000 at the CTHS sale (and there is a half-sister to him in the Sept. 1 CTHS Ontario yearling sale up for sale by breeder Dan Mooney), he was a smart second in the open Marine Stakes (G3).
A Plate win by Kevin, who has won most of the big races at Woodbine, would be fitting. He has been an outspoken, passionate voice for horse racing in Ontario, especially during the very tough past 1 1/2 years of Covid-19. He is media friendly, even when his stable was hit by the Covid-19 virus and he himself became sick earlier this year. After staying home all winter with his horses training at a nearby farm, his horses had to vacate his barn this spring when several people became sick.
Training horses is tough enough, but with everything that all Ontario’s horsepeople have been through, their resilience should be celebrated. And perhaps Kevin, or another local trainer, will get to hoist the Plate trophy this weekend.
More from Horses:
