Queen's Plate Dreaming: Field Swells to 16 Possible Starters

You only get one chance to race your Canadian-bred 3-year-old for $1 million, so it is not surprising that the field for the Queen’s Plate has swelled to a surprising 16, most of whom will be trying to upset the 6-8 top contenders.

CLAYTON (89 Beyer Figure), the Plate Trial winner and the filly CURLIN’S VOYAGE (93 Beyer), the Woodbine Oaks winner are the headliners for the Sept. 12 race at 1 1/4 miles on Tapeta. The race was originally scheduled for June 27 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There will not be any fans at the race this year.

A few of the new names that have popped up on the list of possible Plate starters including recent maiden winner SWEEPIN HARD, who will have to be supplemented for $25,000. Owned by Alberta’s Borders Racing Stables and trained by Dan Vella, Sweepin Hard, by Conquest Curlinate, won a 9 furlong maiden race in just his second career start on Aug. 16 with a 61 Beyer Figure. Bred by Charles Hayden, the gelding was a $5,000 yearling purchase.

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FAMISHED has been racing in New York for most of his 10 races for Tobey Morton and he won a 7 furlong maiden race on dirt a year ago, but has been third and fifth in recent allowance sprints.

F F ROCKET, a $525,000 2-year-old in training purchase, recently won his maiden at 1 mile and 70 yards at Presque Isle in his fourth career race. It was the first outing for the Curlin colt on an all-weather surface. He earned a 61 Beyer Figure according to Daily Racing Form.

TRUEBELIEVE, second in last year’s Kingarvie Stakes to Dotted Line, was a sprint winner in his June 28 season debut but was 5th behind Clayton in a recent allowance race. ENCHANT ME recently finished second in a maiden race on grass.

PROBABLE FIELD FOR THE 161ST RUNNING OF THE $1 MILLION QUEEN’S PLATE

Horse – Trainer – Owner(s)

Clayton – Kevin Attard – Donato Lanni & Daniel Plouffe

Curlin’s Voyage (filly) – Josie Carroll – Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings & Windsor Boys Racing

Dotted Line – Sid Attard – Norseman Racing Stable

Enchant Me – Santino DiPaola – York Tech Racing Stable

Famished – John Kimmel – Tobey L. Morton

F F Rocket – Keith Dickey – Frank Fletcher Racing Operations

Glorious Tribute – Barbara Minshall – Bruce Lunsford

Golden Wave – Michael De Paulo – Mickey Demers

Halo Again – Steven Asmussen – Winchell Thoroughbreds & Willis Horton Racing

Holyfield – Catherine Day Phillips – Kingfield Racing Stable, Roderick Ferguson & Anderson Farms Ontario

Merveilleux (filly) – Kevin Attard – Al and Bill Ulwelling

Mighty Heart – Josie Carroll – Lawrence Cordes

Olliemyboy – Sid Attard – JMJ Racing Stables

Sweepin Hard (supplement) – Daniel Vella – Borders Racing Stable

Tecumseh’s War – Catherine Day Phillips – Ilium Stables

Truebelieve – Cole Bennett – Centennial Farms (Niagara)

POST POSITION DRAW WITH JASON AND JIM

Woodbine Entertainment has announced that the post position draw for the 161st running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate, first jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, will be presented online via a live stream on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m.

Racing analyst Jason Portuondo will host the virtual production live from Woodbine Racetrack and will be joined by Jim Lawson, President and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment.

The traditional Queen’s Plate post position draw format will be conducted with a draw to decide the order in which connections will select their posts. Following physical distancing protocols, one representative for each horse will be present to make their post position selection and take part in a brief interview with Portuondo.

Live streaming will be available on Woodbine’s website at Woodbine.com and Facebook page.

Final entries are due through the entry box by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

While this year’s event will not be open to the public, Woodbine welcomes fans to experience The Queen’s Plate safely from home with family and friends in their bubble while tuning into The Queen’s Plate @ Home digital experience via Instagram @WoodbineTB and live television broadcast starting at 4:30 p.m. ET on TSN and CTV. Post time for the afternoon’s first race will be 12:30 p.m., with the main event scheduled as Race 10 at approximately 5:41 p.m.