We Miss Artie, currently a top prospect on the Kentucky Derby trail for trainer Todd Pletcher, was today installed the early 4-1 favorite for the 155th edition of the Queen’s Plate.
Last year, Midnight Aria led gate to wire to defeat Sam-Son Farm’s Up With the Birds to take the winner’s share of the $1 million purse for owners Tucci Stables, trainer Nick Gonzalez and jockey Jesse Campbell.
The 2014 Queen’s Plate is set for Sunday, July 6, at Woodbine.
The hypothetical Winterbook, compiled by Ron Gierkink and Alex Campbell of the Daily Racing Form, and Keith McCalmont of Woodbine’s Communications department, offers early odds on all 125 three-year-olds, 111 colts, geldings and ridglings, as well as 14 fillies, nominated to the 2014 Canadian Triple Crown.
We Miss Artie, a three-year-old son of Artie Schiller-Athena’s Gift, was bred in Ontario by Richard Lister. Owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the dark bay colt was purchased for $90,000 at the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Pletcher, who will saddle We Miss Artie in Saturday’s $550,000 Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park, has sent out eight previous Queen’s Plate starters, winning the Gallop for the Guineas in 1998 with Archers Bay.
“We won the Plate with Archers Bay and we’d love to win it again,” said Pletcher. “It’s a great race and always a fun event to attend.”
We Miss Artie broke his maiden second time out on August 11 over the Belmont turf and followed that effort with a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes on the grass at Saratoga.
A win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on the Keeneland synthetic, at odds of 9-1, put We Miss Artie into the Queen’s Plate picture.
“Obviously it was very encouraging to have him win over the synthetic knowing that the Queen’s Plate will be run over the synthetic,” said Pletcher. “He seems to be a horse that handles all three surfaces pretty well, so we certainly have the Queen’s Plate high on the radar screen.”
We Miss Artie completed his two-year-old campaign in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile over the Santa Anita dirt, where he finished a deceptively good seventh, defeated just four lengths, after a bobbled start.
“I thought he ran pretty well in the Breeders’ Cup. He made a pretty strong middle move and just hung the last bit. I thought it was an encouraging effort,” said Pletcher.
We Miss Artie made the first two starts of his sophomore campaign at Gulfstream Park finishing a solid second on January 19 in the grassy Kitten’s Joy Stakes. Last time out, We Miss Artie failed to fire in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes, a key prep race on the road to the Kentucky Derby, finishing eighth.
We Miss Artie will tackle fellow Queen’s Plate hopeful Asserting Bear in Saturday’s Spiral as he continues along the Derby trail, but the Queen’s Plate remains a key target.
“We’re looking forward to getting him back on the synthetic in the Spiral and I think that will crystallize what our plans are moving forward,” said Pletcher. “It’s hard to plan 24 hours in advance in this business. Right now our immediate goal is the Spiral, so we’ll see how that goes. We’ll try to have a plan in place a couple month’s out for the Plate.”
Aragorn Ami, Ivan Dalos’ homebred daughter of Aragorn-Galloping Ami, is undefeated in two starts for trainer Josie Carroll and is the 6-1 co-second choice in the Winterbook.
The talented bay broke her maiden at first asking on December 15 sprinting over the Woodbine ‘Poly’ and confirmed her talent on February 1 at Oaklawn Park with a determined stretch run to win the Martha Washington Stakes.
“Truthfully, I put her in the stake thinking she was live,” said Carroll. “I thought all along she was a pretty good filly. My only concern was how difficult it is to win at Oaklawn without a race over the track and when she did win it really impressed me. She ran a gutsy race at Oaklawn.”
Aragorn Ami is currently enjoying some time off before she returns to action.
“She got a little body sore, a little jarred up and we decided to give her a little breather because we have a long season ahead,” said Carroll. “She’s had a couple of weeks out now and she’ll start back training in a couple weeks and we’ll see where we are.”
Carroll became the first female trainer to win the Queen’s Plate in 2006 when Edenwold captured the Canadian classic and she added a second Plate trophy to her resume in 2011 when the filly Inglorious beat the boys in a thrilling stretch run.
“I’m always grateful for the opportunity to have a good horse in the barn,” said Carroll. “I don’t think you ever lose the thrill of going for a race like the Plate.”
Bred in Ontario by John Carey, Asserting Bear, the Coronation Futurity winner, is the co-second choice with a record of two wins, a second and a third from seven career starts.
Trained by Reade Baker for Bear Stables Ltd., Asserting Bear broke his maiden on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course but proved his mettle with a driving score in the 1 1/8-mile Coronation Futurity under veteran rider Jim McAleney.
Asserting Bear finished fifth in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in his seasonal debut on February 1 and will make his next start in Saturday’s Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park.
Coltimus Prime, trained by Justin Nixon for Cabernet Racing, and Matador, trained by Woodbine’s perennial leading conditioner Mark Casse for John Oxley, are co-third choice at odds of 8-1.
Ami’s Holiday (10-1), filly Paladin Bay (10-1), Spadina Road (12-1), Speightsong (12-1) and Heart to Heart (15-1) round out the top 10.
Racing fans can keep track of the latest Queen’s Plate buzz, including photos, feature stories and event details, at www.queensplate.com.
A recap of the Top Ten and the entire list of Queen’s Plate nominees and Winterbook odds follows:
Top 10 in the Winterbook
We Miss Artie – 4-1
Aragorn Ami (f) – 6-1
Asserting Bear – 6-1
Coltimus Prime – 8-1
Matador – 8-1
Ami’s Holiday – 10-1
Paladin Bay (f) – 10-1
Spadina Road – 12-1
Speightsong – 12-1
Heart to Heart – 15-1
Queen’s Plate nominees (125)
Alpha High – 30-1
Alyshan – 100-1
Ami’s Holiday – 10-1
Angry Moon – 25-1
Aragorn Ami (f) – 6-1
Ascot Martin – 50-1
Asserting Bear – 6-1
Athenian Guard – 18-1
Awesome Secret (f) – 100-1
Bandamba – 50-1
Bangkok – 75-1
Bear’s Reality – 50-1
Best Country – 50-1
Blazing Zack – 100-1
Bourbon Man – 100-1
Brew On The Beach – 30-1
Butilovesyababe – 50-1
Butterfly Strike – 30-1
Candy Passion – 25-1
Cap In Hand – 75-1
Chiefroll’nthunder – 50-1
Chique to Chique (f) – 100-1
Chris’ Brew – 50-1
Christmas Cowboy – 100-1
Classic Brew – 30-1
Clearer View – 75-1
Coltimus Prime – 8-1
Cool Coyote (f) – 100-1
Countryman – 30-1
Dancingwithdunkirk – 100-1
Danzig Storm – 18-1
Deep Digger – 100-1
Demon Buster – 100-1
Diamond Attorney (f) – 100-1
Drink In My Hand – 50-1
East Side – 100-1
Eighty Nine Red – 75-1
Endeavor’s Dream – 50-1
Figy’s Mobil Pride – 50-1
Fireball Merlin – 75-1
Free to Dance – 75-1
Get Out Of Town – 100-1
Go Bro – 18-1
Golden Jiggs – 75-1
Got Game – 30-1
Grom – 75-1
Handsome Charlie – 100-1
Hantaloop (f) – 75-1
Heart to Heart – 15-1
Hiking Buddy – 100-1
Hot Hot Heat – 75-1
Humble Hero – 100-1
I Deliver – 100-1
Indian Guide – 25-1
Interpol – 30-1
Iron Wolf – 50-1
Johnny Bear – 100-1
Jolly Dancer – 75-1
Keen Gizmo – 30-1
Lady Rockport (f) – 100-1
Lapsang (f) – 75-1
Latin Piper – 30-1
Leif Erikson – 25-1
Lemon Sahkee (f) – 100-1
Lewis Vale – 18-1
Lions Bay – 50-1
LLanarmon (f) – 25-1
Lynx – 18-1
Macho Mio – 100-1
Majestic Sunset – 18-1
Man Cave – 18-1
Mangusta – 18-1
Maritime Pulpit – 50-1
Matador – 8-1
Meehan – 100-1
Milwaukee Flash – 50-1
Money Talks – 25-1
Mystery Tower – 75-1
Mythos – 100-1
Niigon Express – 25-1
Oil Strike – 75-1
On Top Of The Bay – 50-1
One Destiny – 50-1
Overtone (f) – 18-1
Pagan Power – 75-1
Paladin Bay (f) – 10-1
Pentameter – 50-1
Platinum Glory – 18-1
Proroguing – 25-1
Rebellion on Tap – 100-1
Red Fever – 75-1
Rhythm Blues – 30-1
Robs Giant Gizmo – 50-1
Rumble Time – 75-1
Shaft of Light – 100-1
Sharp Stick – 100-1
Sleepy P – 100-1
Smart Spree – 75-1
Snowy Legacy – 50-1
Something Awesome – 100-1
Spadina Road – 12-1
Spanish River – 50-1
Speightsong – 12-1
Spin the King – 25-1
Splashy Gizmo (f) – 25-1
Stockwatcher – 50-1
Storm Now (f) – 30-1
Super Pit – 75-1
Tap To The Street – 50-1
Ten To Ace – 100-1
The Final Verse – 100-1
The Great Gizmo – 100-1
The Imposter – 50-1
The Lip – 100-1
Tiz Wiz – 100-1
Tower Of Texas – 18-1
Try Flying – 100-1
Tulio’s Brew – 30-1
Two Stellas – 75-1
Unikat – 50-1
Wanstead Gardens – 50-1
We Miss Artie – 4-1
Weekend Affair – 100-1
Winning Shot – 100-1
Zensational Josh – 100-1
More from Canadian Thoroughbred:
