Queen's Plate showdown pits Moira vs. Rondure
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Kevin Attard looked to have a foothold on the 2021 Queen’s Plate with four entrants, but his highest placing in his quest to win the prestigious event for the first time was a third.
On Sunday, Attard sends out impressive Woodbine Oaks winner Moira in the 163rd running of the $1 million event for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds. The once-beaten daughter of Ghostzapper is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in an 11-horse field and will be trying to become the 38th filly to win the 1 1/4-mile Tapeta event.
“It’s exciting,” Attard said. “To be back with a chance this year is obviously nice. I think we’ve got the right horse. With every start, she’s gotten a little bit better.
“I don’t think the distance will be a problem. I think she’ll run all day. She’s a horse that you can put anywhere. She settles well, and when you ask her to run, she picks up the bridle.”
Moira won the 1 1/8-mile Oaks by 10 3/4 lengths and earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. After racing without hind shoes in the Oaks, Attard said she will be wearing all four shoes in the Plate.
“The plan is to go over there with four shoes, and hopefully she keeps all four of them on,” Attard said, jokingly. “She took a few steps backwards and reacted in the Oaks. She was on the rubber tile and just jammed herself. The one shoe flung off and the other was bent, so we had to pull the other one.
“Even though she gets a little antsy in the paddock, the good thing about it is she doesn’t break out in a sweat and lose her race then. She’s still learning and fairly lightly raced. Hopefully with more experience, she’ll start to handle that situation a little better each time.”
Rondure earned a whopping 95 Beyer when notching his first stakes by 5 1/2 lengths going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Marine on July 2. Trainer Katerina Vassilieva opted to bypass the Plate Trial Stakes on July 24 with Rondure and believes the son of Preakness winner Oxbow will run on.
“The Marine was his first time going two turns,” Vassilieva pointed out. “I had a feeling he would run well, but I didn’t know he was going to win that easily. It proved to me that he’s a legitimately nice horse.
“He’s a muscular, boxy type, and not a horse you would typically say looks like a long-distance or route horse. From the last race, it seems like that wasn’t the bottom of him, that he could go further.”
Rafael Hernandez chose Moira over Rondure after riding both horses. Flavien Prat, who won the 2019 Plate on One Bad Boy, takes over on Rondure.
Sir for Sure and Hall of Dreams, both trained by Mark Casse, ran one-two in the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial. Sir for Sure bumped Hall of Dreams at the top of the stretch before going on to score by two lengths under Declan Carroll.
Patrick Husbands on Hall of Dreams claimed foul on Sir for Sure, but the result stood.
“I just bided my time, and when I had to make room, I was able to push out,” Carroll said.
The Josie Carroll-trained Duke of Love edged out Ironstone for second in the Marine before finishing a troubled fourth in the Trial.
“With every race, he gets a little better, a little more focused,” assistant trainer Sue Lorimer said. “The way he picked himself back up after getting in trouble last time was great to see.”
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Ironstone, like Rondure, is coming into the Plate without racing in the seven weeks since the Marine. A fast worker, trainer Willie Armata said Ironstone has settled better early in his recent breezes with the addition of ear plugs.
The lone shipper is Saratoga-based Causin’ Mayhem, who was a front-running third in the Trial. Trained by Todd Pletcher for Chiefswood Stables, the son of Into Mischief graduated second time out in the mud at Belmont Park in June.
“We were hoping to get a stalking trip [in the Trial], but things didn’t work out that way,” said Robert Landry, Chiefswood’s general manager. “But we are confident he will move forward off his last race.”
The Minkster lost for the first time when sixth as the favorite in the Trial. Trainer Danny Vella said The Minkster suffered heat exhaustion after the race.
“The heat bothered him a bit,” Vella said. “It caught us by surprise. He recovered very well. I’ve been training him aggressively, just like always. Those good horses, the harder you train them the better they get. He’s like that.”
Rounding out the Plate field are Hunt Master, Shamateur, and Dancin in Da’nile.
The Queen’s Plate is the opening leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. It will be followed by the Sept. 13 Prince of Wales Stakes on dirt at Fort Erie and the Breeders’ Stakes on the grass here Oct. 2.