For the 167th time, the King’s Plate will be run in Ontario and since 1956, it has been run at ‘New’ Woodbine in Rexdale. This year’s race is Saturday, August 15.
Much has changed since that first year at E.P. Taylor’s beacon of the north but the Plate, celebrating Canadian bred 3-year-olds, remains the country’s coveted race.
There are 12 sophomores in this year’s race (before the post position draw takes place Tuesday morning, Aug. 11), two fillies , 10 colts or geldings and a host of owners, trainers, grooms, hotwalkers and jockeys with dreams of guineas.
Let’s take an early look at the entries and learn a bit about them:
LUSTER (Knicks Go) – The filly. The favourite. She’s a steel grey colour.
Seven fillies have won the Plate this century and another five landed in the top three, a few of them close to winning. That is 12 fillies winning or in the top three in the last 25 Plates, or almost 50 percent. In all, 39 fillies have won all 166 Plates.
Her trainer JOSIE CARROLL has won three Plates and is in the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Luster was dominant in her Oaks romp and ran fast, too, posting a 97 Beyer Speed Figure while barely being asked by jockey John Velazquez.
Luster was an $80,000 yearling purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2024 by Ben Gowans as agent for American interests Gainesway Farm (Antony Beck) and Andrew Rosen.
Luster was also sold by her breeder Ravi Sugrim and his wife Joannie Daas for $50,000 as a weanling with the name Sweet Selena to Carrie Brogden of Machmer Hall. Sugrim has dabbled in racing and breeding and has one horse now, Luster’s 2-year-old half brother.
MAGICAL FACTOR (The Factor)- Owned and bred by Chiefswood Stables, one of the biggest racing and breeding operations in Canada. Robert and Mark Krembil won the Plate in 2001 with Niigon. His trainer is Rachel Halden, who has never won the Plate but has won the Breeders’ Stakes and Woodbine Oaks.
This is a handsome gelding who, like Brachetto, comes into the Plate with the most time off – he was second to the latter in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes on June 27.
Magical Factor, who can be headstrong, will be ridden by Jose Camps, who only came to Canada in 2022 and has quickly landed in the top 10 of riders locally.
BRACHETTO (Vekoma) – bred by his owners Ross and Brenda McKague in Manitoba, a Manitoba-bred has never won the Plate but an Alberta and BC Bred have won the big race. This is a laid back guy trained by JULIA CAREY, who has only had one previous Plate starter.
The McKagues have raced horses for half a century. When Brachetto was second by a nose in his debut last fall to the Mark Casse-trained Voodoo Doll, Casse and owners tried to buy Brachetto, but they were unsuccessful.
Brachetto (a varietal of wine grap) was 18 to 1 when he won the Marine Stakes with Ryan Munger riding.
MILITARY TIME (Gun Runner)- bred by Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs and purchased for $350,000 by Gary Barber and St. Elias Stable of Vinny Viola.
Viola was a co-owner of this year’s Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo and he owns the Florida Panthers hockey team. Barber and Military Time’s trainer MARK CASSE have won 3 Plates. Jockey FRASER AEBLY, one of the hottest riders at Woodbine, seeks his first Plate win.
Military Time is a handsome chestnut colt and a son of Woodbine stakes winner Red Cabernet, a daughter of Ontario sire Signature Red.
DIXIE LAW (Tiz the Law)- A filly bred by her owner Garland Williamson of Hillsbrook Farm in Hillsburgh, ON. She has won 4 of 8 races and was second to Luster in the Oaks. First starter (along with Highwaytothemoon) for trainer Dale Desruisseaux. Pietro Moran won last year’s Plate on Mansetti.
HIGHWAYTOTHEMOON (Ransom the Moon) – purchased privately by Domanic DiLalla of Centennial Farms (Niagara) when the gelding did not meet his $20,000 yearling sale reserve at the CTHS Ontario sale, this speedy guy was bred by James and Janeane Everatt and their daughter Arika Everatt-Meeuse.
Highwaytothemoon has 2024 Champion Jockey Rafael Hernandez as his rider and this pair won the Plate Trial Stakes.
BAAEED ALYNNA (Good Magic), bought for $180,000 at a Kentucky yearling sale in 2024 by Tagermeen Racing Ltd., a group of owners from Libya. Tagermmen was busy on the evening of Aug. 10 buying million-dollar yearlings at the Saratoga sale. Trained by KEVIN ATTARD, this colt is lightly raced, a one-time winner and he was bred by Saintsbury Farms, Inc of Jay and Christine Hayden, from Lucan, ON.
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IMYOURMEDICINEMAN (Shaman Ghost) – Bought for $12,000 from the CTHS Ontario sale at Woodbine in 2024 from breeder Jon Hyka of Hillsburgh. This gelding is a son of King’s Plate winner Shaman Ghost and owned by trainer Harold Ladouceur and wife Jessie (Oh Em Gee Stable) and Ad Noir’s Jaime Rionda, who is from Mexico and has a successful career in real estate.
DON IQUE (Astern (Aus)) – He is owned by co-breeder Michael Cooke, who is the go-to man for many owners and trainers when they buy a young horse. Cooke has broken and prepared so many champions for owners such as Ivan and Colleen Dalos, trainers such as Hall of Famer Josie Carroll, who trains this grey colt. Mike has only owned a couple of horses in his career.
Don Ique was closing ground in the Plate Trial, he is a galloper. His sire was a Group 1 winner in Australia who now stands at stud in Turkey.
His dam, Iquique was foaled in France and raced in Indiana. Iquique (by Cacique (Ire)) is from all German breeding.
Co-breeder Jeff Yingling, from Chicago, has raced horses at Woodbine under Sangreal Investments. He raced Iquique in 2017 when she won her maiden at Fair Grounds on the grass. He lost her in a claiming race at that time and re-claimed her in 2019.
BOND MARKET (Bond Street (Ire)) – Just one start, one win. This gelding is from the first crop of Ontario sire Bond Street and this fellow is owned and was bred by Brian O’Leary’s Polo Management Services. Carlos Grant trains and Bond Market was very impressive when he won a two-turn maiden race on the grass at 45 to 1 on July 5. No modern-day Plate winner had just one previous race.
Xarel Forde gets his first Plate mount.
VERY SPECIAL (Ghostzapper) – He was bred by Adena Springs and is owned by the farm’s owner Frank Stronach. Trained by KEVIN ATTARD who has won three Plates.
Very Special is a maiden with a second and two thirds in three races. One concern is that he was scheduled to race in late July but was injured at the starting gate.
Romero Maragh, who joined the Woodbine colony this year and is from Florida, gets his first Plate ride. Very Special will have blinkers on.
FIRE AND WINE (Lexitonian)- Only a $5,000 Kentucky yearling purchase in February 2024 and winner of the prestigious Coronation Futurity for 2-year-olds last fall. However, the last Coronation winner to come back the next year and win the Plate was NORCLIFFE (1976).
Fire and Wine has a new rider for the Plate in Jalon Samuel.
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