The suggestion made by the connections of Queen’s Plate-winning filly MOIRA in the days since her scintillating, track-record setting win in Canada’s greatest race that she would not pursue the Canadian Triple Crown did not come as a surprise to knowledgeable horsepeople and a few racing media.
The Triple Crown will continue on September 13 at Fort Erie racetrack with the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt. The final leg, the 1 1/2 mile Breeders’ Stakes, also worth $400,000, on the grass, is scheduled for Sunday, October 2.
Moira (Ghostzapper – Devine Aida by Unbridled’s Song) was set to return to the track for light training on Thursday morning, August 25 for trainer Kevin Attard and owners X-Men racing, Madaket Stable and SF Bloodstock.
Fully dappled out and enjoying a late morning munch of grass with exercise rider Korina McLean outside of her idyllic barn 27, Moira was unaware of the discussions. She was mostly interested in visitors with cameras and tree branches.
While a decision on the super filly’s next start has not been officially made (since the race only a few days ago) some racing lovers are up in arms over the talk that Moira will head to the U.S. for her next race and have made it known on social media.
There are many good reasons why the large ownership group of Moira, which includes American stables Madaket and SF Bloodstock in addition to Canadian syndicate X-Men Racing, could pass up the Prince of Wales and Breeders’. And it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with Canada’s Triple Crown.
1 – Most of the last 20 Plate winners went on to race in the Prince of Wales and/or the Breeders’ Stakes. Those that didn’t include 2021 winner Safe Conduct, a confirmed turf horse who passed up the Wales on dirt but came back for the Breeders; Holy Helena (2017), a filly owned by top breeder Frank Stronach; Lexie Lou, a filly who stayed in Ontario to run in the grassy Wonder Where against fillies; Midnight Aria (2013) who was injured; Strait of Dover (2012), injured; Inglorious (2011), filly.
Three fillies are on that list. The value of a filly who wins a big race and is likely to be sold at auction as a broodmare prospect or in foal goes up. Add a graded stakes win to a Plate victory and her value continues to go up.
2 – It is unfair to include the Canadian Triple Crown series of 2020, 2021, and this year. It was incredible enough that Woodbine Entertainment was able to cobble together racing seasons when COVID-19 hit. And the Woodbine management had to move the Plate and the next two races to much later in the season. But good ole MIGHTY HEART ran in all three legs, won the Plate and Wales only to get roughed up on soft turf in the Breeders’.
Historically, the Plate, ‘Wales and Breeders’ are run within some 48 days from late June to mid-August. In 2019, the last ‘normal’ season racing pre-COVID, the Queen’s Plate was held on its customary date June 29, the Prince of Wales, July 24 and the Breeders’ Stakes, August 17. Mighty Heart was racing in the Breeders on October 24.
With Covid in the rearview mirror, Woodbine elected to keep the Plate later in the year (August 21) following a blockbuster 2021 edition that realized $16 million in wagering. But with racing dates and stakes schedules at tracks throughout North America all back to normal, this year’s Plate had to go up against fancy boutique meetings at Saratoga and Del Mar that simply took some of the betting dollars away from Plate day.
It is a good bet that the 2023 Plate will return to its traditional date, or close to it, meaning the Triple Crown will be completed earlier.
3 – Racing is a business and since Moira is owned by many people and not just a single owner, she will be sold. She is a filly and Grade 1 black-type on a filly means big bucks. A Canadian Triple Crown sweep would mean a lot too, especially to the filly’s trainer Kevin Attard, an Ontario man who hails from one of the top families in Canadian racing. But even Attard knows that spending the next couple of months racing on the dirt at Fort Erie or perhaps a boggy grass course at Woodbine in October makes little sense.
Look for Moira to head to the grass, perhaps for her next race. That would be the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, for which she has been invited. That race is October 15. The Grade 1 Cotillion at Park on Sept. 24 has also been mentioned but that race comes up quickly.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales, at 1 3/16 miles, is expected to lure a number of fellows who were in Moira’s Tapeta dust in the Plate. HALL OF DREAMS, SIR FOR SURE and DUKE OF LOVE are expected to be there.
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