Clayton unsettled, still takes Plate Trial Stakes
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — Despite running greenly, the heavily favored Clayton got the job done in Saturday’s $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes, a key prep for the $1 million Queen’s Plate on Sept. 12 at Woodbine.
With Rafael Hernandez riding for trainer Kevin Attard, Clayton was rank in a stalking position until about the five-eighths pole in the nine-furlong test for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds. Dotted Line set moderate fractions, with second choice Halo Again in close proximity, and Clayton joined them up front while three-wide on the far turn.
Clayton looked poised to draw off at the head of the stretch, but he remained on his left lead while maintaining a slim lead until the wire, scoring by a half-length in a time of 1:50.61.
Halo Again finished second by a head over Dotted Line. Glorious Tribute, Elusive Knight, and Northern Thunder completed the order of finish.
“There was a little trouble early in the race, trying to (get him) to settle down,” Hernandez said. “The horse just wanted to go. After the two horses got out in front, he settled down. I was more confident about him on the backside.”
Clayton’s performance wasn’t as impressive as his previous allowance win in his first start around two turns.
“We’ll watch the replay,” Attard said, “see how he comes out of this race, and take it from there, see if there’s any adjustments that need to be made. This is obviously a step in the right direction, but I don’t want to be remembered as the Plate Trial winner. He lacks a lot of seasoning, but he’s progressing.”
Clayton paid $3.30 in his stakes debut. The son of Bodemeister earned $90,000 for owners Donato Lanni and Daniel Plouffe.