King's Plate: Many ways to go in intriguing 17-horse field

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – There’s a wide variety of contenders for bettors to peruse in Sunday’s 164th running of the $1 million King’s Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown at Woodbine, which lured 17 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, plus two also eligibles.

The Plate was formerly known as the Queen’s Plate but got a name change this year following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III.

The 1 1/4-mile Tapeta route has a 3-1 favorite in Kalik, who has never competed on a synthetic surface and is coming off a poor performance, albeit against Grade 1 company in the Belmont Derby. The front-running Plate Trial Stakes victor Paramount Prince has never been better, but there’s other speed in the field.

Five of the last 12 Plates have been won by a filly, and Woodbine Oaks protagonists Elysian Field and Wickenheiser are taking on the boys with the benefit of a weight break. Stanley House, Kaukokaipuu, Touch’n Ride, and Twin City are all in with a shot as well.

A turf specialist based at Saratoga, Kalik used his tactical speed to win each of his three outings before the Belmont Derby, including the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge at Belmont with a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

Kalik has followed the same path as 2021 Queen’s Plate winner, Safe Conduct, who was fourth in the Pennine Ridge and then eighth in the Belmont Derby before taking the Plate with the addition of Lasix after a fast turf work at Saratoga.

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“The horse is doing super,” trainer Chad Brown said. “His last two works were right what we wanted. We’ve done some gate schooling with the horse. In his last start, he had some troubles in the gate that really cost him – not breaking well. There are some unknowns, if he can go a mile and a quarter and if he can handle the synthetic track. I’m not sure, but he couldn’t be doing any better.”

Leading jockey Kazushi Kimura will ride Kalik. Kimura teamed up with Brown to win the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor here last fall on Rougir.

Trainer Mark Casse sends out the supplemented Elysian Field and Paramount Prince while seeking his third Plate victory. Elysian Field had a wide trip while closing for second in the seven-furlong Fury Stakes on June 10. She took her game to another level winning the July 23 Oaks from off the pace with an 83 Beyer under Sahin Civaci.

Casse swept the 2014 Oaks and Plate with Lexie Lou and sent out Wonder Gadot to finish a troubled second in the 2018 Oaks before she won the Plate. In both instances, the races were three weeks apart, and he said the timing is much better now for fillies.

“I’m extremely happy now that we get a month between the Oaks and the Plate,” Casse said. “That’s important. Three weeks is tough. I think we were seeing it take its toll. I don’t see why Elysian Field wouldn’t [run competitively]. She’s a big, strong filly.”

Paramount Prince passed his first two-turn test with flying colors in the nine-furlong Trial, scoring by five lengths with an 81 Beyer after ending up second in the Queenston Stakes.

“I think we got to see what he wants to do,” Casse said. “He wants to get into stride, and he’ll run all day. He’s a big, strong horse.”

Trainer Kevin Attard entered Wickenheiser, reigning Canadian champion male 2-year-old Philip My Dear, Moon Landing, and Velocitor, along with also-eligible Enjoythesilent.

Wickenheiser, by American classic winner Lemon Drop Kid, got a late start to her campaign and was second against male allowance opposition in her June 4 comeback before a closing second in the nine-furlong Oaks.

“Distance isn’t going to be an issue for her,” Attard predicted. “She’s bred to go beyond that. Whether or not she can work out a good trip in a 17-horse field – you’re going to need some luck. I had a couple setbacks with her prior to her [season debut] and another one right after her first race. She’s had two good works since the Oaks and things have gone smoothly. I definitely think you haven’t seen the best of her yet.”

Trainer Mike DePaulo sends out Stanley House, Plate Trial runner-up Cool Kiss, and El Cohete, who could be construed as a rabbit for the other two.

Stanley House is DePaulo’s stable star. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who won this year’s Kentucky Derby on Mage and the Belmont Stakes aboard Arcangelo, has the mount. Castellano rode Stanley House to victory in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special over Gulfstream Park’s Tapeta in March. Stanley House subsequently won an allowance here before a belated sixth-place finish as the favorite in the Plate Trial, where he was much farther back than usual in the early stages.

“Castellano rode him a couple of times, and the last time he rode him, he won,” DePaulo pointed out. “He knows the horse. He breezed him at Gulfstream.”

Kaukokaipuu graduated in his ninth start on May 20 before doubling up in the seven-furlong Queenston. He gave the shipper, favored Turf King, a run for his money most recently when second in the Grade 3 Marine.

The powerful gray is contesting the Plate off a seven-week break. Trainer Ted Holder sent him out to work a strong half-mile in a bullet 46 seconds on Monday.

“He couldn’t be doing any better,” Holder said. “I’m tickled pink. Everything’s fallen into place. That work was well in hand. The rider didn’t move his arms.”

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Touch’n Ride, who was supplemented at a cost of $25,000, will try to become the first horse since Awesome Again in 1997 to win the Plate in his third career start. He earned the highest Beyer in the Plate field, a 91, when romping in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special on the Tapeta here July 30.

Twin City won his seasonal bow in the King Corrie Stakes and then came up empty in the Marine before rebounding with a third-place finish in the Trial.

“He entrapped [in the Marine],” trainer Stuart Simon said, referring to the horse losing his air. “I wasn’t planning on running him [in the Trial], but when he didn’t get a good race out of Marine, we put a tongue tie on and he came back with a good race.”

The Plate goes as the 10th on a 13th-race card at 5:39 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the first race is 12:25 p.m.

There are four other stakes on the program – the Grade 2 Dance Smartly, the Grade 3 Bold Venture, the $125,000 Soaring Free, and the $125,000 Catch a Glimpse.

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