No Time looks King's Plate-worthy as she takes Woodbine Oaks
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ETOBICOKE, Ontario - John Velazquez won the 2018 Queen’s Plate on the hard-knocking filly Wonder Gadot for owner Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse. He could be on the one to beat for the same connections in next month’s $1 million King’s Plate after riding No Time in an impressive score in Sunday’s $502,000 Woodbine Oaks.
Winterberry set a fast pace in the nine-furlong event for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, while being tracked by stablemates Shifty and No Time.
Heading into the stretch, the favored Shifty went inside the leader and No Time went outside her before out-running Shifty in the final furlong to score by 3 3/4 lengths. No Time’s final time of 1:50.14 was .23 quicker than the previous race on the card, the Plate Trial Stakes. She paid $15.50 to win.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of pace,” Velazquez said. “I wanted to see how it developed in front of us. She held her ground pretty well on the first turn. She got to the backstretch and switched (leads) and got a little bit on the bridle sooner than I wanted her to, so I kinda give and take a little bit. By the time we got to the half-mile pole, I kept it nice and easy. I didn’t want to make a premature move. She was doing it easy at the same time. The quarter pole came and then she switched down the lane.”
Velazquez was optimistic about her chances stretching out to 1 1/4 miles in the Aug. 16 King’s Plate.
“She galloped out very nicely,” Velazquez pointed out. “I think if she can do that again - relax in the first part, the way she did today, then she has a very good chance.”
A daughter of elite sire Not This Time, No Time earned $300,000 in her first stakes win while giving Casse his fifth Oaks victory. She was bred in Ontario by James Everatt, Janeane Everatt, and Arika Everatt-Meeuse.
D’Aurum finished fourth and was followed by Nata Trouble, Reveler’s Row, Aristella, Innisfree Isle, Crystal Visions, War Signal, Ella It Is, and R Canadian Apple.
The handle on the 10-race Woodbine Oaks card was $7.4 million.
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