The success record of fillies in the Plate is quite remarkable, considering the number of Canadian-bred three-year-olds in a crop each year.
Josie Carroll
Gainesway Farm and Andrew Rosen's Luster cruised easily to a 5 1/2 length win in the 71st Woodbine Oaks, punching her Plate ticket.
The 71st Woodbine Oaks will be run Sunday, July 19 and trainer Josie Carroll is going for her fourth win in the big filly race.
There were no stakes races this past weekend at Woodbine, but there was plenty of action and memorable events.
Ontario-bred three-year-old gelding beat a solid field of maidens at Keeneland on April 11 and quickly tops King's Plate list.
After showing much promise in workouts over the last 10 months, Pin Oak Stud's colt had an impressive debut.
Carroll took her time with Kentucky-bred Chaos Agent and it paid off; Ontario-bred Private Debbie was a nice winner at Oaklawn.
It has been 50 years since Norcliffe, trained by Roger Attfield, won the Coronation Futurity and then the Plate the following year.
Mark Dodson's homebred Notorious Gangster had a speedy breeze at Woodbine on July 31 as he continues on his way to the Plate.
Scrappy son of Classic Empire enjoys the seven furlongs of Queenston and overcomes slow pace to get the win for Mark Dodson.
There were several impressive races by Woodbine horses this weekend, including the two stakes stars who could rule the season.
There are two big stakes races on March 22 that offer Kentucky Derby points; the Jeff Ruby has lured Canadian-trained He's Not Joking.
Woodbine's snowy backstretch opens for horsemen and horses this week, but plenty of trainers are still collecting wins in the U.S.
The Kentucky-bred three-year-old won the Grade 3 Grey Stakes at Woodbine in 2024 and will test his mettle on the Kentucky Derby trail.
Woodbine's leading trainer Mark Casse won a pile of races in the last two weeks, but it was Sandman's second-place finish that was exciting.
