In less than a month, the first major King’s Plate prep race will take place at Woodbine, leading Canadian-bred three-year-olds to the big dance on August 17. The Queenston Stakes, restricted to Canadian-breds, is a seven furlong, one-turn stakes race that should bring together some of the top contenders for this year’s Plate.
Manfred and Penny Conrad could be back on the Plate trail seven years after their homebred State of Honor finished eighth in the 2017 edition. The couple from Wellelsey, Ontario (near Kitchener) won races with two nice three-year-olds in recent weeks and both could be in the Queenston in a month’s time.
The Conrads, who got into racing just over a decade ago, had early success with their horses. Their filly Shamrock Rose won the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in 2018 and the next year they sold her for $2.9 million.