As exciting as it was for the owners, trainers and riders who are set to have their horses in Canada’s most famous race, the King’s Plate, there was also the element of nervous anticipation as post positions were drawn on Tuesday for the 1 1/4 mile Canadian classic this coming Saturday.
Plenty of first-timers in the Plate were in the crowd, such as trainer Harold Ladouceur and his assistant and wife Jessie who will send out two promising three-year-olds, Rafaroo and Vitality, for the imposing Stronach Stables. Krista Cole was at a full table with her owners, waiting to see where her student Thor’s Cause would land in the gate. Evette Chartrand-Hoek, a single mother of one, was there with owner Sue Leslie, whose Friendly Ghost was one of the 13 entered in the Plate. Mary Self and her father Zeljko Krcmar had family and friends with them at the post draw for their starter No More Options and owner and trainer Dominic Polsinelli had a large group for his horse Roar of the Crowd.
Woodbine did the position draw with guest Natalie Spooner, a hockey star in the PWHL, and the first horse pulled from the entries was MY BOY PRINCE, the Canadian Champion two-year-old colt, Plate Trial winner and a colt owned by American movie producer Gary Barber, who won last year’s Plate with another Prince, the Paramount kind. In fact, Barber and his trainer Mark Casse have won three Plates together and chances are, another one is in their future. My Boy Prince is 7-to-5 in the morning line odds.
My Boy Prince drew post 7 and Sahin Civaci, Woodbine’s leading rider, will be on board. Watching on was My Boy Prince’s breeder, Murray Smith, who has three mares including the Plate favourite’s mum Hopping Not Hoping, a daughter of Ontario stallion Silent Name (Jpn). Hopping Not Hoping was the first horse ever owned by Smith, who sold My Boy Prince for $115,000 at the 2022 CTHS Ontario sale, the highest price of the auction.
Casse comes loaded for the Plate. In addition to the steel grey ‘Prince’, he will have two fellows owned by Manfred and Penny Conrad of Wellesley, ON. The couple have never won the Plate and have been small-scale owners and breeders in the 13 years they have been in racing. They have done remarkably well in that time and a Plate win by their homebred ESSEX SERPENT or sales purchase MIDNIGHT MASCOT would put the cherry on the top of their involvement in racing.
Essex Serpent, who did not race at two, is 2-to-1 in the morning lines odds and his mate is 10-1.
The Ladouceurs, who have been racing at Woodbine for two decades, hit paydirt in 2014 with their own filly Paladin Bay, who earned over $600,000, but the going has been tougher in the last 10 years. They received some horses from the Stronach team last year and Rafarro, who was second in the Plate Trial to My Boy Prince and Vitality, a recent winner, won them a golden ticket to the big dance. Rafaroo is the third favourite at 8-to-1.
The lone filly in the field – and we know how well fillies do in the Plate – is CAITLINHERGRTNESS, who had to be supplemented to the race for $25,000. American-owned, the filly is one of four trained by Kevin Attard in the lineup. He also has maiden BEDARD and an interesting pair for Minnesota owners Al and Bill Ulwelling, PIERRE (named after Prime Minister prospect Pierre Poilievre) and JOKESTAR.
For Leslie, longtime president of the Ontario HBPA, former chair of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Alliance and a longtime owner and trainer, FRIENDLY GHOST is an exciting horse. A $46,000 yearling purchase from the local sale, the attractive son of Outwork was third in the Trial in his third career race. Chartrand Hoek took over the training of Leslie’s horses from the owner a couple of years ago. Are Leslie or Chartrand-Hoek nervous? “A little bit,” they said.
Cole has been rising up the trainer ranks for several years and is an excellent hand with a horse. THOR’S CAUSE is a maiden but seems to like long distances. NO MORE OPTIONS gets another chance at the highest level despite fading in the Trial and ROAR OF THE CROWD, a maiden winner for $25,000 claiming, has never raced past 6 1/2 furlongs.
The favourites are strong in this year’s Plate but there would be no better time for one of the smaller outfits to have a taste of guineas glory.
POST HORSE NOTES (Jockey)
1 Jokestar – 5th Plate Trial – Al and Bill Ulwelling, homebred (Wilson) 20-1
2 Rafaroo – 2nd Plate Trial, maiden – Stronach Stables, Frank Stronach, bred by Adena Springs (Munger) 8-1
3 Essex Serpent – won Grade 3 Marine Stakes – Manfred and Penny Conrad homebred (Husbands) 2-1
4 Caitlinhergrtness (f) – 2nd Woodbine Oaks – Siena Farm and Winstar Farm, LLC, bred by Jesse Korona, sold at 3 sales, $60,000, $160,000 and $375,000 last year, Ocala April (Hernandez) 12-1
5 Midnight Mascot – Third Grade 3 Marine Stakes – Manfred and Penny Conrad, bred by Yvonne Schwabe Thoroughbreds, $200,00 Keeneland September sale (Kimura) 10-1
6 Friendly Ghost – 3rd Plate Trial, – Sue Leslie, bred by Deborah Holmes’ Phoenix Rising Farms, $46,000 CTHS Ontario yearling (Stein) 30-1
7 My Boy Prince – won Plate Trial – Gary Barber seeks 4th Plate, $115,000 CTHS Ontario yearling (Civaci) 7-5
8 Pierre – 3rd allowance race on grass, Al and Bill Ulwelling, bred by Ivan Dalos, $105,000 CTHS yearling sale (D Cohen) 20-1
9 Thor’s Cause – 4th maiden race – Joe Pignatelli, Spirit’s Path Management, bred by James and Janeane Everatt and Arika Everatt-Meeuse, $22,000 CTHS Ontario yearling (J Alderson) 50-1
10 Bedard – maiden, Canuck Racing Stable, one of four for trainer Kevin Attard (P. Moran) 30-1
11 Roar of the Crowd – winner for claiming $25,000 6 1/2 furlongs, by Reload, bred by Paradox Farm (Aebly) 50-1
12 No More Options – 6th Plate Trial, stakes winner, owned by Mary Self, bred by Laurel Byrne, $5,000 Keeneland November weanling 2021 (Fukumoto) 30-1
13 Vitality – won maiden race – Stronach Stables, Frank Stronach, bred by Adena Springs (Campos) 20-1
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