(correction – there has been no decision on whether recent maiden winner Touch’n Ride, trained by Layne Giliforte for Chiefswood Stable will be considered for the King’s Plate)
It’s early August and we are just over three weeks from the 164th King’s Plate at Woodbine. With no standout in the three-year-old division, male or female, this year’s race is very much up for grabs.
There appear to be at least 17 three-year-olds foaled in Canada (the maximum number of starters allowed in the Plate) heading to the August 20 race. The horses with the highest earnings will be preferred if there is an overflow.
Good news for horsepeople with possible Plate starters came on Wednesday when an earlier decision from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to place Plate starters in a retention barn 48 hours before the August 20 was canceled. Woodbine communicated:
In a joint effort with the HBPA, we are hiring a third party security company to provide surveillance of any barns that are stabling King’s Plate horses starting 48 hours prior to the race. This is being done in agreement with the AGCO and therefore, King’s Plate horses will not need to relocate to the retention barn as previously communicated.
Trainer MIKE DEPAULO announced last week that Kentucky Derby/Belmont Stakes winning rider JAVIER CASTELLANO will ride STANLEY HOUSE (Army Mule) for John and Diana Russell. Castellano rode Stanley House to his maiden win at Gulfstream Park in Florida on March 25. Stanley House was recently sixth in the Plate Trial after a bit of a slow start. Castellano was second in the 2019 Plate on favoured Avie’s Flatter for trainer Josie Carroll.
American jockeys have ridden four of the last 10 Plate winners.
KIRK WYCOFF, whose Three Diamonds Farm owns recent Saratoga maiden winner ABADIN (ah-ba-deen) with Dr. Lou Bucky’s Main Line Racing, told Canadian Thoroughbred on Tuesday that the “Plate is under consideration” for their colt. The son of Speightstown – Narrate by Medaglia D’Oro, trained by Todd Pletcher, posted an 83 Beyer Speed Figure when he won a 7 furlong dirt race on July 21, his third career start.
“I’ve wanted to come up there to Woodbine when it was called the Queen’s Plate,” said Wycoff from Pennsylvania. “It’s a great place to race, they treat you like a king.
“I believe our horse is good enough, it’s just a matter of going from 7 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles. He seemed to handle an all-weather track well when he worked at the two-year-old sale (in Ocala in April 2022). We will leave it up to Todd and see what he thinks.”
There has not been any Plate decision made on recent maiden winner TOUCH’N RIDE, by Candy Ride (Arg). The bay gelding is trained by Layne Giliforte for Chiefswood Stable and he won a maiden race by 5 1/4 lengths with Jose Campos riding. The horse, not originally nominated to the Canadian Triple Crown, earned a 91 Beyer Figure.
Canadian Thoroughbred has compiled a list of possible Plate entrants including some who are not expected to compete. Trainer Catherine Day Phillips said recent maiden winner SAMMY STONE would likely stay on the grass, the surface on which he recently won. Barbara Minshall said her filly FORTYFIVESEVENTY, who was third in the Woodbine Oaks, would aim for the Wonder Where Stakes. NORTHERN INVADER, the impressive maiden winner from New York, is heading to Colonial Downs for a stakes race on grass. Graded stakes winner MISSION OF JOY is headed to the Del Mar Oaks, according to the Graham Motion barn.
Sales🎓 ABADIN breaks his maiden at Saratoga🎪 for Three Diamonds, Main Line Racing Stable, and @PletcherRacing!@OBSSales April 2022 graduate for Thorostock pic.twitter.com/Za6UsHofCA
— Pick View LLC (@PickViewLLC) July 21, 2023
Below is a list of Plate eligibles by earnings with notes on those who are not expected to run:
Earnings of King’s Plate hopefuls
Max. number for race – 17 (earnings used after 17)
1. Philip My Dear $411,330
2. Elysian Field – filly $400,800 (must be supplemented)
3. Kaukokaipuu – $297,820
4. Twin City – $281,800
5. Velocitor – $232,109
6. Kalik – $228,425
7. Wickenheiser (filly) – $225,060
8. Stayhonor Goodside – $193,015
9. Paramount Prince – $184,380
10. Cool Kiss – $159,000
11. Stanley House – $156,440
. Sammy Stone – $149,258 (not expected to run)
12. Midnight in Malibu – $122,260
13. Silent Miracle – $113,457
14. Twowaycrossing – $96,235
15. Moon Landing – $81,818
16. Abadin – $81,500
. Northern Invader – $79,500 (not expected to run)
17 – Morstachy’s – $73,804
AE
18. Touch’n Ride – $62,338 (must be supplemented)
19. El Cohete – $59,101
20. Enjoythesilent – $58,843
21. Trinity Park – $30,455 (must be supplemented)
22. Runaway Charlie – $17,568
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