RAMIRO CASTILLO won’t be at Woodbine on August 21 when his favorite horse RONDURE, who he has galloped and worked for most of 2022 goes postward in the 163rd Queen’s Plate as one of the favourites.
Castillo will be at Ajax Downs, where he is battling for leading rider status at the Quarter Horse track.
“It’s very exciting to help with the training of a horse for the Plate, it’s amazing. ” said Castillo, who is from Mexico where he was a jockey. “I thank [trainer Vassilieva] Katerina for the opportunity with Rondure.”
Castillo came to Canada to ride Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses in Alberta in 2013. He joined the Ajax Downs colony in 2016 and was leading riding at the track in 2017. Castillo and his son Alexis began working in the mornings at Woodbine in 2019.
Many trainers have taken notice of Castillo’s talent at working horses and exercising them and he joined Vassilieva’s stable this year.
“Ramiro knows Rondure better than anybody,’ said Vassilieva. “He’s great and he has worked him almost every time.”
Former Ajax Downs rider Jose Cruz also works for Vassilieva exercising horses and accompanying them to the track on race days.
There is a great deal of overlap between Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horse racing in Ontario not only with horsepeople working with both breeds but in pedigrees and ownership.
Rene and Darlene Hunderup had one of the largest Quarter Horse stables in Ontario until recently expanding their Thoroughbred racing interests in the last couple of years. The couple operates Norse Ridge Farm in King City and still maintains several Quarter Horse broodmares. They race under the Heste Sport banner and Darlene trained the Quarter Horses at Ajax.
Their Thoroughbred team is led this year by SIR FOR SURE, who won the Plate Trial at long odds and their horses are trained by Mark Casse. Sir for Sure, a tall and leggy homebred by Sligo Bay (Ire) is from their mare Serena’s Rose, a daughter of My Way Only. Serena’s Roses dam Quat has produced Throughbreds and Quarter Horse runners for the Hunderups.
While Sir for Sure heads to the Plate as one of the contenders, the couple will also have their top older Quarter Horse in action on Sunday at Ajax Downs. SENOR PAGRANA, trained by Bob Broadstock, will be favoured in race 3.
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Jerry Brown, who founded Thoro-Graph sheets in the 1980s, spoke to Canadian Thoroughbred this week about the Queen’s Plate starters and their performance numbers. Thoro-Graph sets itself apart from other speed figure products such as Beyer Speed Figures, available in Daily Racing Form and the Ragozin Sheets, said Brown, with its focus on helping owners and trainers pick out racing prospects and incorporating a litany of race-day factors into its final number.
“Performance figures in general are different from speed figures in that we incorporate things that speed figures don’t,” said Brown in an interview earlier this year. “We incorporate ground loss in the figures, weight carried, and the effect of wind on the time of the race. And theoretically, all of us who measure performance figures are trying to measure the same things. But we have different methodologies for doing so, and they result in a different end product. A lot of people using our data in handicapping contests and to manage horses have found that our figures are more accurate than anyone else’s figures.”
The aim of the Thoro-Graph numbers is to map out a horse’s form cycle.
From its website: Each number on a “sheet” represents a performance rating calculated by using the time of the race, beaten lengths (a proprietary formula different than generally used), ground lost or saved, weight carried, and the effect wind may or may not have had on the time of the race. The final figure is manually adjusted with a carefully crafted track variant. The lower the number the better the race. With few exceptions, there will be a figure for every race a horse has run past four years.
Thoro-Graph figures are represented in a clear graphical format. This format makes it possible to compare horses which have run under different conditions, different distances, at different tracks, and on different days. Any handicapper or horseman can examine each horse’s history, form cycle, and relative ability in today’s race.
So, what about the Queen’s Plate on Sunday?
Most of the starters are lightly raced and sifting out the 3-year-old that will go forward on Sunday at the testing 1 1/4 mile distance or repeat a recent start is a bit tricky.
“The filly [Moira] gets a little weight and is less likely to bounce,” said Brown. “Duke Of Love is a live long shot, he’s ready for a new top.”
Moira, who gets 5 pounds from the boys, posted a 12 in her career debut last fall when winning the Princess Elizabeth and then a 7 in the Grade 3 Mazarine.
The Ghostzapper filly ‘paired up’ her 7 in her season debut this year when winning the Fury Stakes and then put up a 5 in her Oaks win.
The lowest number in the race is the 3 earned by Rondure in his Grade 3 Marine score, which followed his pair of 6s in his first two starts of the year in sprints.
The Minkster put up a 5 3/4 in his season debut, his win in the 7 furlong Queenston, but backed off with an 11 in the Plate Trial when he was rank and emerged from the race with heat exhaustion.
Duke of Love, Brown’s longshot selection, had three, 7s to begin the season before his 11 in the Trial when he had serious traffic issues.
Plate Trail winner Sir for Sure won his maiden with a 9 at Gulfstream, ran an 11 in the short Queenston Stakes and then put up a new top in the Trial a 7.
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Latest Forecast: as of Friday morning, the forecast for Plate day is for sun and cloud, warm temperatures, not much wind, high humidity, and a 60% chance of some rain in the afternoon, 1 to 3 millimeters.
As there is only one other main track race on Sunday, the Sweet Briar Too Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs, race 3, it will be a guess for handicappers as to if the Tapeta surface will have any bias.
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Paulick Report’s Friday Show Focuses on Plate:
FIELD FOR THE QUEEN’S PLATE
Post – Horse – Trainer – Owner – Jockey – Morning Line Odds
1 – Hall of Dreams – Mark Casse – Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable, Peter Deutsch, and Leonard Schleifer – Patrick Husbands – 12-1
2 – Shamateur – Sid Attard – Stronach Stables – Luis Contreras – 30-1
3 – Ironstone – William Armata – Tequesta Racing Inc. and Jupiter Racing Co. – Kazushi Kimura – 12-1
4 – The Minkster – Danny Vella – Sea Glass Stables, LLC – David Moran – 10-1
5 – Duke of Love – Josie Carroll – MyRacehorse – Justin Stein – 5-1
6 – Rondure – Katerina Vassilieva – Borders Racing Stable Ltd. – Flavien Prat – 3-1
7 – Dancin in Da’nile – Gail Cox – Sam-Son Farm – Shaun Bridgmohan – 30-1
8 – Moira – Kevin Attard – X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, and SF Racing LLC – Rafael Hernandez – 5-2
9 – Hunt Master – Angus Buntain – Openwood Farm – Emma-Jayne Wilson – 30-1
10 – Sir for Sure – Mark Casse – Heste Sport Inc. – Declan Carroll – 8-1
11 – Causin’ Mayhem – Todd Pletcher – Chiefswood Stable – Antonio Gallardo – 6-1
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