Safe Conduct holds off Riptide Rock for Queen's Plate victory
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The favored New Yorker Safe Conduct got the job done in the 162nd running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine on Sunday, with Irad Ortiz Jr. riding for the veteran trainer Phil Serpe.
As expected, Take a Chance led the way in the 1 1/4-mile Tapeta route for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. After breaking from the rail, Ortiz angled Safe Conduct into the two path to take up the chase in second.
After Take a Chance set fractions of 24.01, 48.37 and 1:13.11, Safe Conduct struck the front nearing the quarter pole, and was joined on the lead in the stretch by Keep Grinding, who had mounted a four-wide rally.
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After looking the part of a winner, Keep Grinding began to tire with a sixteenth left. Safe Conduct then held off a late charge from Riptide Rock. The latter trailed the 13-horse field by about 10 lengths on the backstretch before taking the overland route, along with another longshot, H C Holiday, who finished another length back in third.
Safe Conduct held off Riptide Rock to win by a head.
Woodbine Oaks winner Munnyfor Ro finished a valiant fourth. She was followed by Keep Grinding, Avoman, Harlan Estate, Haddassah, Tidal Forces, Dance Some Mo, Derskii, Go Take Charge, and Take a Chance.
The final time was 2:02.85.
“The horse was working good,” Ortiz said. “Everything came out perfect in the race. I (laid) close in a good spot. When I asked him to go, he responded really well. At the half-mile, he was moving nice and smooth. Then, I felt like someone was running inside of me, so I just (went) ahead at the top of the stretch. When I hit him, he responded really well. He kept moving forward. I saw somebody was flying outside. That was very close. I didn’t really know if I won the race after the wire, but thank God I did.”
Safe Conduct returned $8 and earned $600,000 for Dr. Robert Vukovich’s WellSpring Stables, of Colts Neck, New Jersey.
A jubilant Mitch Kursner bred Safe Conduct and sold the son of Bodemeister for $45,000 as a weanling at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The turf expert had been working fast over the turf training course at Saratoga in preparation for his first start on a synthetic surface.
“He’d been training like a bear,” Kursner said. “A rule of thumb is if you’re a nice horse on the turf, it will translate on the Tapeta. We’re just delighted.”