Queen's Plate winners have big day

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The enduring prestige of the Queen’s Plate got a boost when the last two winners of the Canadian classic, Sir Dudley Digges (2016) and Holy Helena (2017), were victorious within hours of each other Saturday.

Sir Dudley Digges gave owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey their third victory in the last five runnings of the Barbados Gold Cup by defeating his Mike Maker-trained stablemate Shining Copper by a half-length. Shortly beforehand, Holy Helena got a perfect trip as one of five winners on the 14-race Fountain of Youth card for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in winning the Grade 3 The Very One. It was the first graded stakes victory for the 4-year-old Stronach Stable filly.

Holy Helena was the first of back-to-back stakes winners here Saturday for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, preceding Team of Teams, who led gate to wire in taking the Sand Springs. From just eight starts, Holy Helena is a winner over dirt, synthetics, and turf, which gives Jerkens a wide variety of options. Asked what’s next, he said: “I don’t really know. We’re going to bring her back home to New York and put our heads together and just map something out for her.”

Jerkens added to his big weekend by winning a Sunday allowance at Gulfstream with Elevenses.