Weyburn tops 45 still eligible to Queen's Plate

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Grade 3 Gotham winner Weyburn stands out among the 45 Canadian-bred nominees for the Queen’s Plate on Aug. 22 following an interim payment of $1,500 due June 30.

Weyburn is coming off a neck loss to Mandaloun in the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth. Chiefswood Stables general manager Robert Landry said the son of Pioneerof the Nile is pointing to the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 31 at Saratoga. A strong showing in the 1 1/8-mile dirt race would propel him to the Grade 1 Travers there Aug. 28, instead of the $1 million Plate.

“We mapped out this plan where you have 22 days to the Plate,” Landry said. “Obviously, we’re hoping he’s good enough to head to the Travers. He’s run some really good races. He’s shown that he fits with those horses. He’ll have a pretty solid breeze before he heads to Saratoga, and we’ll go from there. The Queen’s Plate, being Canadian, is something you’d love to do, but the higher profile races like the Jim Dandy and Travers are going to help his stud value in the U.S.”

Chiefswood’s Workin Out graduated second-time out at Monmouth last Saturday and could be aimed to the Plate, according to Landry.

“We’re contemplating heading him in that direction,” Landry said. “He ran well on a sealed track the other day, but [dirt] was never his best surface in the morning. His first lifetime start on the turf at Gulfstream wasn’t a bad one.”

Among the other prominent Queen’s Plate nominees are unbeaten allowance winner Tidal Forces, Belmont maiden winner Hombre, Coronation Futurity winner Stephen, Haddassah, and last year’s Canadian champion male 2-year-old Gretzky the Great, who has been coping with a quarter crack.

Twenty-six Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies remain eligible for the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks on Aug. 1, including Curlin’s Catch, Il Malocchio, Jilli Marie, and Lorena.

◗ Landry said Chiefswood’s millionaire turf runner Tiz a Slam, runner-up in the 2017 Plate, has been retired and was gelded after closing his career last September.

“Our staff rides him at our retirement barn,” Landry said. “He’s going to live out his life there. We might pony him the odd time. He’s living the life.”

Turf Sprint Series begins

The opening leg of the Woodbine Turf Sprint Series heads Friday’s Woodbine card. Hitters Park should be favored in the five-furlong inner-turf dash, which carries a purse of $55,000.

Hitters Park captured the first leg of the 2020 Woodbine Turf Sprint Series with a big 96 Beyer Speed Figure. He ran hot and cold the rest of the year, and won his season opener June 18 in a $20,000 starter handicap on the Tapeta.

Reconfigure, who has been a fixture in the series, is returning from an eight-month layoff.