Holy Helena possible for Queen's Plate after Woodbine Oaks win

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The lightly raced Holy Helena surged past Mythical Mission in the final sixteenth to take the $501,600 Woodbine Oaks for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies under jockey Luis Contreras at Woodbine on Sunday. The filly gave trainer Jimmy Jerkens his first Woodbine Oaks victory and owner Stronach Stables its third.

“It’s quite a while since I won the Oaks,” Frank Stronach said following the race. “The Oaks is a special race, and I’m very happy about it.”

Prior to Sunday, Stronach’s most recent Oaks win had come in 2008 with Ginger Brew, who proceeded to run second to Not Bourbon in the Queen’s Plate. Stronach said Holy Helena, a daughter of Ghostzapper, will be considered for the $1 million Queen’s Plate on July 2 after she covered the 1 1/8 miles of the Oaks in 1:50.18, more than a second faster than the Plate Trial, run in 1:51.32 earlier on the card.

:: Add a 5-card pack of PPs and save 55¢/card!

“If she comes out of it right, we might think about it,” Stronach said. “The key is how she behaves in the next few days. Normally, I space them out quite a bit. We’ll take a look.”

At least one filly from the Oaks has run in the Queen’s Plate in each of the last nine years. Last year, Gamble’s Ghost finished seventh in the Queen’s Plate after running second to Neshama in the Woodbine Oaks. The last Oaks winner to win the Queen’s Plate was Lexie Lou in 2014.