$18,127,049 to be exact.
That is how much went through the betting system taking wagers on Woodbine’s 13-race King’s Plate card.
The 164th King’s Plate generated the largest single-card handle in Woodbine Racetrack history on Sunday afternoon.
A total of $18,127,049.67 was wagered on Sunday’s 13-race King’s Plate card, eclipsing the previous record of $18,005,973.60 from the 2019 Queen’s Plate. The record handle is also a significant increase from last year’s Queen’s Plate handle of $13.6
The racing was strong and while many horsepeople in attendance noted that there were plenty of empty seats in the stands and in restaurants, the wagers poured, especially on race 13 which had a large carryover for the Jackpot High 5 wager, which lured $1.2 million in bets.
PARAMOUNT PRINCE’S powerful King’s Plate win was the headline race of the day, and huge for the province, being by Ontario sire Society’s Chairman. Check out some of the other amazing performances by horses and people on a steady Sunday at Woodbine:
PATCHES O’HOULIHAN is already being compared to one of Canada’s greatest sprinters, Pink Lloyd. Not by trainer Bob Tiller, just yet, but the Hall of Fame conditioner knows the three-year-old by Ontario sire Reload – Maythefourthbwithu by Silent Name (Jpn) is a “very good horse.”
Patches and jockey Daisuke Fukumoto took it to older horses in the Grade 3 Bold Venture Stakes on Sunday, leading all the way to win by 1 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:15.34 for 6 1/2 furlongs. He earned his second straight 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
This was the fifth straight win for Patches. who had a sensational career debut at 5 1/2 furlongs in a $40,000 optional claiming race last September. He flopped in the Bull Page Stakes on turf and went on hiatus. This year he won two optional races and then the first two legs of the Ontario Heritage Series, the Lake Huron and Lake Superior.
Tiller made sure everyone knew that owner and breeder Frank DiGiulio, who also co-owned Pink Lloyd, convinced Tiller to start Patches in the Bold Venture, rather than head to Fort Erie to continue the Heritage series for Ontario-sired runners. It paid off and now the gelding has six wins in seven races and earnings of over $260,000.
DAVID ANDERSON had a huge day (and weekend) with horses he bred and sold and horses he races. He bred ELYSIAN FIELD, who was second in the Plate after winning the Woodbine Oaks and he bred and co-owns two-year-old star AIROSA, who won the $125,000 Catch a Glimpse Stakes on the turf. Airosa, by Uncle Mo – Mrs. Hudson by Street Cry (Ire) rallied to win under Rafael Hernandez and for trainer Kevin Attard. The filly had won her maiden in her previous race.
Airosa won by a length in a sharp time of 1:14.68 for 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf, good for an 85 Beyer Figure. Not long after that win, the filly that Airosa defeated in her maiden win, GOLDEN CANARY, owned by Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbreds, led all the way to beat males in the Soaring Free Stakes. Actually, fillies ran 1-2-3 in the Soaring Free and the top two were trained by Mark Casse. Golden Canary earned a 80 Beyer Figure for her win and she is a daughter of Medaglia D’Oro – Black Canary by War Front. Ontario-bred Dancing Duchess was a close second.
Meanwhile, Anderson also had a win, as part of the X-Men racing team, with the tough filly Strega in an allowance event and a strong second-place run by Moira, the 2022 Plate winner, in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes.
MISS DRACARYS, invading from Belmont for trainer Neil Drysdale, went straight to the front and led her six rivals on a merry chase to score by one length under Javier Castellano in Sunday’s $200,000 Dance Smartly Stakes Presented by bet365 (G2T).
The Dance Smartly, a 1 1/16 mile-turf race for fillies and mares, was the first start for Miss Dracarys since she became a stakes winner over the distance and surface in the listed Forever Together at Belmont last November 20.
Miss Dracarys, breaking from the outside post, wasted no time in establishing herself as the one to catch as she showed the way through fractions of :24.07, 47.91, and 1:11.02 with the Chad Brown-trained Salimah in hot pursuit and Justify My Love (BRZ) in a good striking position along the rail.
Amping up the pace as Moira was looming large following a perfect outside stalking trip in fourth, Miss Dracarys had plenty in reserve as she blew past the mile marker in 1:33.87 en route to a final time of 1:39.60.
Moira had moved into serious contention around the final turn and had dead aim on the winner straightening out for home, but was unable to reel in the loose-on-the-lead winner as the even-money choice.
Last year’s Canadian Horse of the Year and champion three-year-old filly after capturing the Woodbine Oaks Presented by Budweiser and the Queen’s (now King’s Plate) Plate last summer, Moira was suffering her third hard-luck defeat in as many starts this season.
Ready Lady rallied from the backfield to finish 3 ¼ lengths back in third with Justify My Love a nose back.
Ephrata and Salmah, who was the 2-1 second favourite, and Whimsical Dance rounded out the order of finish.
Souper Hoity Toity and Il Malocchio were scratched.
Miss Dracarys, a daughter of Malibu Moon and Ask Me When, who was bred in Kentucky by Castleton Lyons and Kilboy Estate, was recording her fifth career victory and first graded stakes win while making her 13th start in the Dance Smartly. She returned $10.70 as the third choice in the wagering.
Drysdale has enjoyed some major victories here in the past, registering Ricoh Woodbine Mile wins with Labeeb (1998), Touch of the Blues (2003), and Becrux (2006) and a Pattison Canadian International score with Marsh Side (2008).
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