Rondure throws hat into Queen's Plate ring with impressive Marine Stakes victory
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Rondure established himself as a leading Queen’s Plate contender with an authoritative score in the Grade 3, $177,900 Marine, the third of four stakes on Saturday at Woodbine.
Favored Ironstone darted out to a clear lead while off the rail, and Rondure took up the chase in second going down the backstretch in the 1 1/16-mile event. Rondure hit the front around the quarter pole and opened up a clear lead entering the stretch before drawing off for a 5 1/2-length tally in a quick time of 1:43.57.
Duke of Love outran a tiring Ironstone for second, and Mannix wound up fourth in the eight-horse field of 3-year-olds.
Rondure was running back three weeks after a narrow loss to The Minkster in the seven-furlong Queenston Stakes, and the Marine was his first start around two turns. The $1 million Queen’s Plate is over 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 21, and trainer Katerina Vassilieva said the son of Oxbow will make his next start in the race, the opening leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
“Going into this race, I was worried about the short timeline between the Queenston and this race,” Vassilieva said. “There was a few question marks there, but it didn’t seem like a factor at all today. I’m very excited about him. Hopefully, we’ll get to the Plate and get to have some fun.”
Rondure returned $10.40 in his first stakes score and earned $108,000 for Borders Racing Stable.