Plate longshot Krachenwagen as tough as his name sounds
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner-trainer Angus Buntain is taking a shot with Krachenwagen in next Saturday’s $1 million Queen’s Plate, but he believes the oddly named gelding can pick up some of the pieces in the prestigious event for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
Buntain said Krachenwagen didn’t have the best of trips in the nine-furlong Plate Trial Stakes on June 8, when he rallied from eighth to finish fifth – 2 3/4 lengths behind victorious Pay for Peace – under Jeffrey Alderson.
“He got a bit jammed up going into the far turn,” Buntain said. “If he could have advanced a little sooner, he may have ended up a little bit closer. Jeff said when he asked him the horse took off from the three-eighths pole to just past the quarter pole. I think he spent himself there. I’m surprised he finished as good as he did.”
Buntain is confident that the 10-furlong Plate distance is within Krachenwagen’s range.
“He galloped out very well in the Trial,” Buntain said. “If he gets a perfect trip and improves a little, and if some of top ones get into some trouble, then maybe we can get a piece of it. When am I ever going to get another chance at the Plate with a horse who looks like he wants to go a mile and a quarter? I want to experience it, but I honestly think he can at least hit the top eight, so I can get my $10,000 [entry fee] back.”
Buntain said his 14-year-old daughter, Libby, named Krachenwagen. When she was 11, Krachenwagen was the name of her favorite ride at Canada’s Wonderland, an amusement park just north of Toronto.
“He’s by Head Chopper, so I said to her that she had to give him a tough-sounding name,” Buntain recalled. “She kind of rolled her eyes in the back of her head, thinking for a minute. We had just been to Wonderland the week before, and she said: ‘How about Krachenwagen? Sounds like cracking heads.’ I laughed. I thought it was perfect.”
Buntain said Krachenwagen has looked good since the Trial.
“He came out of the race great,” Buntain said. “He’s put on weight. He’s an average-sized horse who’s very rugged. He’s muscular and strong. He’s got a wide rib cage, which I think helps with his air and enables him to go the distance.”
◗ The Sports Network will televise the entire Canadian Triple Crown, commencing with the Queen’s Plate, which will be on TSN and CTV in Canada starting at 4:30 p.m. Eastern on June 29.
The $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes is July 23 at Fort Erie. The anchor leg is the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes here Aug. 17.