Sustaining payment keeps Messier eligible for Queen's Plate

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Graded stakes winners Messier and Interstatedaydream remain eligible for the $1 million Queen’s Plate and $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, respectively, following a sustaining payment made by June 1.

Messier, based at Santa Anita with trainer Tim Yakteen, is exiting a 15th place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He took the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis by 15 lengths in February before ending up second to stablemate Taiba in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April.

Messier is among 60 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds nominated to the 1 1/4-mile Plate, which will be run on Aug. 21 at Woodbine. Hidden Honor, a recent maiden winner at Woodbine, was supplemented for $5,000.

Interstatedaydream is currently ineligible for the Plate, but she can be supplemented to the race by Flurry Racing Stables and trainer Brad Cox for $25,000 on entry day. Off her victory in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico on May 20, she’s the obvious early favorite for the July 24 Woodbine Oaks, which would be her first start on the synthetic Tapeta surface.

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At a cost of $2,500, Absolute Jewel was supplemented to the Oaks. Trained by Mike DePaulo, she’s entered in a maiden special turf sprint at Woodbine on Sunday following a slow-starting second in her May 8 debut.

A total of 24 Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies remain eligible for the 1 1/8-mile Oaks.