A total of 57 Canadian-bred three-year-olds are eligible to the 159th running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate set for June 30 at Woodbine Racetrack following the sustaining payment deadline on May 2.
The initial February 5 nomination list consisted of 109 three-year-olds including 14 fillies. Fifty-six of those horses remain eligible to the Queen’s Plate plus the addition of supplemental entry Home Base, a recent maiden winner at Keeneland owned by Patricia’s Hope LLC and trained by Michael A. Tomlinson.
The connections of seven fillies have made sustaining payments to the 1-1/4 mile first jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown and the list includes Sovereign Award winner and impressive Kentucky Oaks runner-up Wonder Gadot for trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber, along with Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry’s two-time stakes winner Dixie Moon from the Catherine Day Phillips stable. Both are joined by Hot Cash, Jack’s Memory, No Extensions, Queen’s Fate and Zestina as Queen’s Plate eligibles also on the updated list of 27 fillies nominated to the 63rd running of the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks Presented By Budweiser, set for June 9. It was just last year that a filly, Stronach Stables’ Holy Helena, won both the Oaks and Queen’s Plate.
Casse, Sid Attard, Malcolm Pierce and Daniel Vella each train four Queen’s Plate nominees. Casse’s crew of contenders also includes multiple graded stakes winner and Kentucky Derby runner Flameaway owned by John Oxley, Winterbook favourite Telekinesis for Stonestreet Stables, and Chiefwood Stable’s highly-regarded Neepawa.
The Attard-trained Silent Sting, who recently won the Queenston Stakes at Woodbine, is one of eight nominated horses owned by the Stronach Stables.
Sam-Son Farms’ six eligibles include a pair of top 10 Winterbook favourites, Strike Me Down, conditioned by Graham Motion, and Pierce trainee Kitten’s Boy.
Last year’s Coronation Futurity champion Aheadbyacentury, trained and co-owned by John Ross, along with fellow 2017 stakes winners Be Vewy Vewy Quiet and Eskiminzin are also among the contenders.
An additional $10,000 payment or supplementary fee of $25,000 is due upon entry Wednesday, June 27 by 8:30 a.m.
To view the full list of three-year-olds nominated to the Queen’s Plate, click here. For the complete list of Oaks-eligible fillies, click here.
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