The King’s Plate may be over five months away, but it is never too early to get an early list of horses to watch as Woodbine is set to open in just over 50 days. The 165th Plate is set for Saturday, August 17 and of course the Woodbine Oaks, the three-year-old filly equivalent, will be held a month earlier.
The date of the Oaks is important to note since the winner of that race tends to do very well in the Plate. That might be true again in 2024 as an early look at the leading Canadian bred three-year-olds is top heavy with talented fillies.
The list below includes only horses who have raced and surely there are plenty of promising, unraced oaks and Plate hopefuls in training.
Seven of CT’s top 15 are fillies but the top four are colts.
MY BOY PRINCE, owned by Gary Barber and trained by Mark Casse, is the logical leading contender for the Plate as the steel grey colt is expected to be named Champion 2-year-old colt at the upcoming Sovereign Awards. Currently in training at the Ocala Training Centre in Florida where he had a 5 furlong workout on March 2 in 1:02, My Boy Prince won the Cup & Saucer Stakes on the turf last year and finished a good third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Santa Anita to complete his campaign.
Lou Tucci’s BABBO, a son of Kantharos from the stakes-winning mare Calling Rhy Rhy, won the Coronation Futurity in gate-to-wire fashion for trainer Sid Attard and is a logical inclusion on the short list of contenders. The speedy bay colt seeks to become the first Coronation winner to come back and win the Plate since Norcliffe in 1975.
Mary and Jesse Self’s NO MORE OPTIONS and Coronation runner-up PIPER’S FACTOR (The Factor) are on the list. The former, by Frac Daddy, was third in the Coronation and not far behind Piper’s Factor, who was sixth in his 2024 opener on dirt at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 3 for Chiefswood Stable. The Munnings colt NAPTOWN, fourth in the Coronation after an impressive maiden win at Woodbine for Robert LaPeta and Madaket Stables, is in the top 10.
The fillies dominate the remainder of the top 15. Princess Elizabeth winner INUDATION (81 Beyer Speed Figure), Chiefswood Stables’ WASKESIU (American Pharoah, stakes placed) and KIN’S CONCERTO (Mendelssohn) have run well this winter. WAR PAINTER (Danish Dynaformer) missed winning the Princess Elizabeth by a head for the new Canuck Racing Club last season.
Impressive maiden winner DAZZLING MOVE (Not This Time), who took a one mile race in the slop at Gulfstream Park this week for Sonata Stable, earning an 84 Beyer Figure, Fair Grounds-based BA DEE YAH (Uncle Mo) and recent Laurel winner C C ROYAL (Flatter) are all Oaks and Plate contenders currently.
BA DEE YAH competes in the Black Cat LaCombe Memorial Stakes on turf at Fair Grounds on Saturday for trainer Tom Amoss. Waskesiu is entered in the Grade 3 Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs on Mar. 9 and Kin’s Concerto competes in an allowance race on turf at Gulfstream on the same day.
Stakes-winning gelding FRAC DANCER and stakes-placed ARASHI complete the list.
Several others could have landed in the top 15 and over the coming weeks, much will change as horses race or return to training.
KING’S PLATE TOP 15 from Canadian Thoroughbred
- My Boy Prince – Cup & Saucer Stakes on turf, 3rd Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1)
- Babbo – Coronation Futurity
- No More Options – 3rd Coronation Futurity
- Piper’s Factor – 2nd Coronation Futurity
- Inudation (f) – Princess Elizabeth
- Naptown – 4th Coronation
- Waskesiu (f)- 3rd Ginger Brew S
- Kin’s Concerto (f) – 2nd Gulfstream
- War Painter (f) – 2nd Princess Eliz.
- Dazzling Move (f) – MSW Gulfstream
- Ba Dee Yah (f)- MSW Fair Grounds
- CC Royal (f) – Laurel winner
- Frac Dancer – sprint SW
- Arashi – 2nd Cup and Saucer
- Jokestar – route winner
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
