Dalos has favorite in fourth Queen's Plate try
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Replicating the success Ivan Dalos had as an owner-breeder in 2018 might be a tough thing to do in 2019, but Avie’s Flatter could go a long way to helping if he were to give Dalos his first victory in the $1 million Queen’s Plate on Saturday at Woodbine.
Dalos’s Tall Oaks Farm was named Canadian champion breeder for the first time in 2018 after a campaign that saw two horses he bred win Grade 1 races in Channel Maker and Johnny Bear. As a result, In Return, the dam of both Channel Maker and Johnny Bear, was named outstanding broodmare, and Avie’s Flatter was Canadian champion 2-year-old after a four-race campaign during which he won a pair of prestigious Canadian 2-year-old stakes in the Cup and Saucer and Coronation Futurity.
In the past, Dalos said his strategy had been to keep the fillies he bred each year and sell the colts and geldings as a way of continuing to expand his broodmare band. He has refined his strategy in recent years, with an eye on winning top races like the Queen’s Plate.
“Some particular ones I’m keeping because either I want to do something with the breeding line, or some may have the potential to be a Plate or Derby horse just from the breeding perspective,” he said. “You can never tell. There’s no guarantees in this business.”
One of the colts Dalos kept was Avie’s Flatter, and so far that decision has paid off. Avie’s Flatter won his debut last August at five furlongs. He quickly stepped up to stakes company for his second start and finished fourth in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes over a mile on turf. Following the Summer Stakes, Avie’s Flatter won the Cup and Saucer Stakes on turf and the Coronation Futurity on Tapeta to close out his 2018 campaign.
Avie’s Flatter was named the Queen’s Plate winter-book favorite in March, but Dalos said he originally had another big 3-year-old race in mind when formulating a plan for the colt over the winter.
“Originally, I was hoping he might make the Kentucky Derby, but I didn’t think he was good enough for the Derby,” he said. “He didn’t like the surface as much as he likes the synthetic. Instead of wasting a try on the Derby, you might as well aim straight for the Plate. He was training well enough on the dirt, but I didn’t think he was up to par with the top American horses.”
With a new goal in mind, trainer Josie Carroll opted to run Avie’s Flatter on turf in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes at Keeneland in April. Avie’s Flatter won that event by a half-length over Henley’s Joy off of the layoff, and then was a close sixth in the Grade 2 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He earned a career-best 87 Beyer Speed Figure.
All signs pointed to Avie’s Flatter running back in the $125,000 Plate Trial Stakes at Woodbine on June 8, but Carroll and Dalos opted to train Avie’s Flatter up to the Queen’s Plate instead.
“The Queen’s Plate, the Prince of Wales, and the Breeders’ Stakes are three tough races, and to have another race three weeks before, that’s four races in two months,” Dalos said. “I think that’s asking too much from the horse and I wanted to save it for the big races.”
Avie’s Flatter will likely be favored in Saturday’s Queen’s Plate, and Dalos is hoping for some better racing luck than he’s experienced in his previous three Queen’s Plate starts. He’s had a horse run second in the Plate twice, including Ami’s Holiday, who in 2014 was his first Queen’s Plate starter, and Amis Gizmo, who finished second in the Queen’s Plate in 2016 before going on to win the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie. Dalos said if all went well, it was possible Avie’s Flatter would run in all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown this year.
You have to have luck, obviously,” he said. “You can get into all kinds of trouble, especially in a big field. It will be what it will. Hopefully, it will be third time lucky. I’ve been second twice, so maybe the third time we can do it.”
