ETOBICOKE, ON–To say that Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen’s Luster (Knicks Go) was the horse to beat in this season’s $1-million King’s Plate would be an understatement of epic proportions. Earlier in the week, several of the trainers in the race, including Hall of Famer and fellow Plate contender Mark Casse, suggested that the race was hers to lose.
Come race day, however, the grey filly offered few anxious moments to her supporters as she came from just off the pace to handily defeat 11 rivals in the first jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown.
Pegged as the even-money choice on the morning line, the Josie Carroll trainee was pounded down to 1-5 favoritism by the time sophomores broke from the gate at shortly after 6 p.m. Exiting Post 1, Luster was given a little nudge by John Velazquez and the filly instantly put herself in a forward position, allowing longshots Fire and Wine (Lexitonian) and Very Special (Ghostzapper) to lead the way into the first turn. With Magical Factor (The Factor) joining the fray to the outside, Luster hugged the rail, roughly three lengths behind, through opening fractions of :22.78 and :46.48.
Continuing to survey the pace through three quarter in 1:11.05, Luster was asked for a bit more by Velazquez leaving the far turn and she overtook her struggling rivals with consummate ease. In command turning for home, she was given several prompts by her rider in the stretch, and while the Casse-trained Military Time (Gun Runner) rallied at the end, the effort proved an exercise in futility as the grey filly streaked home a much-the-best 7 1/4-length winner.
The filly was the fourth Plate winner for Carroll. The Canadian Hall of Famer also trained Edenwold (2006), Inglorious (2011) and Mighty Heart (2020).
“These horses don’t come along too often,” said Carroll, who also saddled horses in the last two races on the card. “She’s very special.”
Echoing the importance of the achievement, Rosen told the TDN after his first Plate win, “It was really special and I’ve been obviously in horse racing a long time. I’ve had a lot of good horses over the years and they’re just not easy to get. And Luster ranks right up there with some of the best I’ve ever had.”
Making the 6 1/2-hour drive from Saratoga to ride the Ontario-bred filly, Velazquez previously won the Plate with Wonder Gadot in 2018.
“When you ride good horses, you do what you want to do and she allowed me to do whatever I wanted to with her. It makes me look good,” explained Velazquez. “I was really good once we passed the wire for the first time. I got back where I thought I needed to be. By the time we got to the back stretch, I had my eye on [Fire and Wine and Very Special] in front of me and I knew they’re not going to take me very far. So I went to [Magical Factor] and he looked like he had some horse. And I had [Dixie Law (Tiz the Law)] behind trying to hold me in [on the rail]. I just kind of bided my time. And by the half-mile pole, that horse was not there. I got out, got my position, got to the three-eighths pole and I sat and waited until they came to me at the quarter pole. I was good to go. She was there. It’s simple as that.”
Carroll was quick to applaud the journeyman rider for his textbook ride.
“Every moment’s anxious until they cross the wire,” admitted Carroll. “That’s horse racing. But you know, [Luster] was in masterful hands. It’s a game of patience. You watch Johnny take her through the trip. He sat. You could see he was confident at any point in the race and just waiting to find the right spot to move her. That, in turn, gave me a lot of confidence, just watching the way he was sitting on her.”
And while the Hall of Fame rider said he was extremely confident sitting atop his charge from the onset of the 10-furlong race, Rosen–who helped lead the filly over to the infield for the winner’s circle ceremony–admitted afterward that he felt some nerves during the early part of the race.
“I wasn’t quite as confident as Johnny was,” Rosen said with a laugh. “But she actually performed the way she has in the last three races. She really dominated those horses.”
He continued, “I looked up at the board and I saw that she was 1-5. And I said to Josie, I said, “They’re betting her she’s going to win this race by five or six lengths.”
“I knew that she had been doing very well and Josie was super confident. I mean, the 1-hole scared us a little bit because you just never know, but she’s just been so consistent and getting better all the time, so it was really nice.”
In her sole start at two, Luster ran off to a 6 1/4-length victory going seven furlongs over the yielding Woodbine turf last August. Facing allowance company at Keeneland in April, she was brought home a five-length winner under Velazquez while trying 8 1/2 furlongs on the grass.
“When I went on Keeneland, I told [Carroll] this horse is impressive. I would love to go ride it wherever she goes,” recalled Velazquez. “Obviously, she’s developed to what she is now. You don’t know if they’re going to develop, but obviously she did and she’s done a great job with the horse to keep her going and develop into what she’s doing now. So give it to the whole team doing a great job with her.”
Cut back to seven panels while debuting on Woodbine’s Tapeta in the Ruling Angel Stakes on May 16, Luster was third as the heavy favorite, but bounced back to win the 1 1/16-mile GIII Selene Stakes on June 27. In her latest outing, she ran away to a 5 1/2-length score in the Woodbine Oaks on July 19.
“I think she’s gotten better with each race,” Rosen affirmed. “If you look at it, I think the Selene was really good. The Woodbine Oaks was better, and I think this was better still.”
Looking ahead, both Carroll and Rosen indicated that the filly was unlikely to return for the second jewel in Canada’s Triple Crown, Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, next month.
“I will talk to the owners, but we had agreed that after this race we would probably give her a little break,” said Carroll. “She runs her heart out every time and she just throws it all down there every time. I think we’re pretty much in agreement that she’ll get a little break now.”
Carroll indicated that the GI QEII at Keeneland was a strong possibility.
“I think that we have to see how she comes out and everything,” said Rosen. “She’s run a lot this year, and my feeling would probably, and I think Josie’s feeling would be probably to give her a little bit of time…I wouldn’t imagine that we would be anxious to run her right back in a month.”
Pedigree Notes
One of two graded winners for Knicks Go, Luster is out of The Factor‘s unraced daughter Ruby Frost, a half-sister to MGSP Swear by It (Broken Vow). Her unraced 2-year-old colt, Whatsyoursismine (Frac Daddy), is on the work tab at Woodbine. The mare was most recently bred to Muth.
Luster’s third dam is by Chief’s Crown, who was bred by Andrew Rosen’s father, Carl Rosen, and campaigned by the Rosen family after the patriarch passed in 1983. Chief’s Crown was the champion 2-year-old colt of 1984, and won the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
An $80,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, the filly previously sold for $50,000 as a weanling at Fasig-Tipton. She was bred by Ravi Sugrim and Joannie Dass.
Saturday, Woodbine
KING’S PLATE S., C$1,002,000, Woodbine, 8-15, (C), 3yo, 1 1/4m (AWT), 2:02.01, ft.
1–LUSTER, 121, f, 3, by Knicks Go
1st Dam: Ruby Frost, by The Factor
2nd Dam: Jesse’s Justice, by Lear Fan
3rd Dam: My Reem, by Chief’s Crown
($50,000 Wlg ’23 FTNMIX; $80,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP).
O-Gainesway Stable (Antony Beck) & Rosen, Andrew; B-Mr.
Ravi Sugrim & Ms. Joannie Dass (ON); T-Josie Carroll; J-John R.
Velazquez. C$600,000. Lifetime Record: GSW, 6-5-0-1,
$925,939.
2–Military Time, 126, c, 3, Gun Runner–Red Cabernet, by
Signature Red. ($350,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP). O-Barber, Gary &
St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola); B-Adena Springs (ON); T-Mark E.
Casse. C$200,000.
3–Fire and Wine, 126, c, 3, Lexitonian–Double Latte, by The
Factor. ($5,000 Ylg ’24 FTKFEB). O-Paul Ryder; B-James &
Janeane Everatt, Arika Meeuse & Robert Marzilli (ON); T-Zeljko
Krcmar. C$100,000.
Margins: 7 1/4, 3, NK. Odds: 0.25, 22.45, 61.55.
Also Ran: Dixie Law, Don Ique, Bond Market, Imyourmedicineman, Brachetto, Highwaytothemoon, Baaeed Alynna, Magical Factor, Very Special. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel Racing.
“Luster’s full of shine!” – @WoodbineGeller
#1 LUSTER very special in the $1 million King’s Plate at @WoodbineTB. @ljlmvel in the irons for @jcarrollracing on the daughter of Knicks Go. pic.twitter.com/t4EHQ6EdMd
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) August 15, 2026