{"id":321842,"date":"2026-08-15T03:12:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T03:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/321842\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T03:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T03:12:29","slug":"queen-looks-to-shine-in-kings-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/321842\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen Looks to Shine in King’s Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"

ETOBICOKE, ONT.\u2013A total of 12 horses have signed on to contest Saturday’s King’s Plate at Woodbine and morning line favoritism goes to Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen’s Luster (Knicks Go), one of only two fillies in this year’s 10-furlong Canadian Classic.<\/p>\n

Despite drawing the rail, she was installed the even-money choice following an eye-catching 5 1\/2-length tally in the Woodbine Oaks on July 19, the grey will be accompanied by John Velazquez, who was also aboard in her most recent victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a pretty exciting effort,\u201d said trainer Josie Carroll. \u201cI’d have to say, as you say, I’ve been fortunate to have some nice horses, but she was so effortless doing it and came out of it so well. She did impress me.\u201d<\/p>\n


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In most other barns, sending a filly to face the boys in a Classic might be considered a tall order, however, Carroll’s barn wouldn’t rank among them. Carroll, a winner of a trio of Plates previously, took the 2011 edition of the Plate with another filly, Inglorious.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Inglorious and this filly have very good minds,\u201d said Carroll. \u201cI think a filly that doesn’t get too stressed, that stays in her feed tub after a race, manages to eat and keep her weight on and not get herself too worried. I think that’s very, very key. It’s the key with the colts as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Velazquez] rode her in Keeneland, and when he got her after the race, his agent called and said, Johnny said, \u201cHe’ll go wherever you want for her,\u201d said Carroll. \u201cAnd that was exciting to hear. When you hear that from somebody of his caliber, it gives you a lot of confidence in your horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Already having won from the rail, Carroll was pragmatic about breaking from the inside on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I knew what my draw was going to be, I knew we were not going to end up in the ideal spot,\u201d Carroll admitted. \u201cI think that is perhaps having a rider like John Velasquez on, he’s been in this position so many times in so many top races, it’s not something that he’s going to overthink. Younger riders that maybe haven’t had the opportunities he’s had, they’ll be in that spot and think, ‘Okay, I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to do that.’ I think Johnny will just break her, let the race unfold and do what he does. He puts horses in great position.\u201d<\/p>\n

How would Carroll like to see the race unfold?<\/p>\n

\u201cShe likes to be forwardly placed. She doesn’t have to be on the lead, but she has to be high there. She has to be forwardly placed and off the rail where she’s not going to get pinned down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carroll will also be represented by Michael Cooke’s Don Ique (Astern {Aus}), fifth last time out in the Plate Trial on July 19. Set at 30-1 on the morning line, the grey will be ridden by Emma-Jayne Wilson, who was forced to miss last year’s Plate due to injury.<\/p>\n

Don Ique made four starts at Horseshoe Indiana, including a $40,000 maiden claimer on the turf in July of his juvenile season, before shipping to Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cA majority of my 2-year-olds, go to [Indiana to] be schooled in the winter. So I was down visiting, checking on the babies, and this big gray went by, and I said, \u201cMike [Cooke], who’s that?\u201d He just caught my eye. And he said, \u201cI own him.\u201d I said, \u201cHe’s kind of nice. And he said he’s Canadian.\u201d I said, \u201cSo what have you been doing with him? He told me he’d been in Indiana.\u201d I said, \u201cWhy the hell isn’t he in Canada? If he’s a 3-year-old, he’s kind of nice.\u201d So Mike and I got talking and we decided to bring him up [to Woodbine].\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the care of Carroll, he was a winner first out in an 8 1\/2-panel main track test while facing optional claiming company before fading to ninth stretching to nine furlongs on June 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope he’s our sleeper,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cHe’s a horse that’ll get him all in a quarter.<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cI wanted to put him with 3-year-olds, so I put him in the Trial. And I was so happy with the way this horse finished. At the end, he galloped out past everybody. So I thought this horse will get the distance, which is really key in a race like this. A lot of horses get a mile and a sixteenth or a mile on an eighth. But the mile and a quarter separates them. And I believe this horse will get the distance. And as I said, it’s just a question of will he get it fast enough?\u201d<\/p>\n

Carroll also won the Plate with Edenwold in 2006 and Mighty Heart in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve said over the years that the moment for that is probably one of my favorite moments in racing,\u201d the Canadian Hall of Fame trainer said of her first Plate winner. \u201cWhen [Edenwold] had pulled up and he was coming back before the crowd and the crowd started to applaud. And I got goosebumps as he went by them. It was like a wave as people applauded. And it was the pure athlete, the athleticism of this horse they were applauding. And it was just a really moving moment to see him recognized in that way because he had run his heart out and that recognition, I still get goosebumps thinking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cObviously, anytime you have a nice Canadian bred 3-year-old, [the Plate is] on your radar,\u201d she said. \u201cSo really every horse that comes in the barn that’s Canadian bred, you look and you say, \u201cIs this possibly one?\u201d When she was so dominant in her first start, we said, \u201cOkay, maybe we’re going to go that way.\u201d But obviously with the fillies, initially we’re looking at the Oaks. We thought we had an Oaks filly.\u201d And then obviously the [King’s] Plate is just icing on the cake if you can segue into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Baaeed Alynna, one of two Plate contenders for Kevin Attard | CBoss photo <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Attard Also Looking for Plate Win #4<\/p>\n

No trainer has dominated the Plate in recent years more than Kevin Attard. Attard, who has taken three of the last four renewals of the Classic, including last year’s victory with Mansetti, won his first two Plates with a pair of fillies\u2013Moira in 2022 followed by Caitlinhergrtness two years ago.<\/p>\n

This year, the two-time Sovereign Award-winning trainer will be represented this year by a pair of longshots\u2013Stronach Stables’ Very Special (Ghostzapper) and Tagermeen Racing’s Baaeed Alynna (Good Magic<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The former, still a maiden, finished third going nine furlongs at Woodbine on July 4. The latter won at Woodbine on June 28 before coming home sixth in the Plate Trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously we’re coming in with two 30-1 shots this year, so less media attention from that perspective,\u201d said Attard. \u201cBut I’m confident both my horses, they’re doing well. They’re coming up to the race in good order and looking forward to getting out there and playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201c[Baaeed Alynna is] a young horse that we’ve always been very high on. I don’t think the Plate Trial was a bad race. He got bumped just before the quarter pole. I think it took him off of his stride a little bit. He ran evenly after that. It was the first time experimenting, going two turns. I think the added distance [in the King’s Plate] is going to be good for him and I think he’s going to benefit from that race last time. So I liked him from the time he got here and I’m still very keen on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deruisseaux Duo Aims to Give Trainer First Plate Win<\/p>\n

Despite being the son of a trainer, Dale Deruisseaux hasn’t taken the most obvious route to this year’s King’s Plate.<\/p>\n

The native of Fort Erie, Ontario owned a restaurant as a young man, however, fate intervened.<\/p>\n

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Highwaytothemoon | CBoss photo<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wasn’t intending on getting out of the restaurant business, but a company bought me out,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn’t really know what I wanted to do but the horses drew me back in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trainer will be represented by a pair of runners on Saturday, Centennial Farms’ Highwaytothemoon (Ransom the Moon), winner of the seven-furlong Queenston Stakes and Plate Trial in his latest start.<\/p>\n

He won two of his first four starts, all at a sprint distance, before stretching to seven panels in the King Corrie Stakes on May 17. He was second that day behind Casson (Caravaggio).<\/p>\n

Listed at 6-1 on the morning line, the gelding with be ridden by Rafael Hernandez.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s a horse that keeps proving me wrong, which I don’t mind,\u201d Deruisseaux quipped. \u201cIt was a logical [progression] with a Canadian-bred 3-year-old. We took one step at a time and went to the Queenston and then went to the Plate Trial and he’s proved me wrong. He just kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n

His other entry is Hillbrook Farms’ Dixie Law (Tiz the Law<\/a>), winner of the Ruling Angel in May. Third in the Selene, the filly was runner-up to Luster in the Woodbine Oaks.<\/p>\n

She was victorious against the boys in last season’s grassy Cup and Saucer Stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cNumber wise, he’s probably second choice on numbers,\u201d he said of Dixie Law. \u201cIf Luster brings her ‘A’ game, she’s going to be very hard to beat and deservingly so. But if she doesn’t, then I think we have a big shot of beating her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pietro Moran, who won last year’s King’s Plate with Mansetti, gets the call on last season’s GIII Mazarine Stakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuster drew the one-hole, so it’s kind of either going to force her hand to send out of there or take back,\u201d he explained. \u201cI’m just going to kind of see how the break plays. And if they send [Luster] out of there, then I don’t want to be on the lead. I’d rather be tracking. I think they’ll probably both be in similar spots tracking.<\/p>\n

Where does he hope to see his runners for home?<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully on the lead,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201c’Dixie’ doesn’t really have a turn of foot. She’s kind of a grinder. I think she has to be close turning for home. If we can get the same trip with Highwaytothemoon that we did in the Plate Trial, that would be ideal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ETOBICOKE, ONT.\u2013A total of 12 horses have signed on to contest Saturday’s King’s Plate at Woodbine and morning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[91264,121271,121272,121273,121274,121275,121276,121277,121278,121279,121280,121281,121282,9,24,63,122,124,123,121283,121284],"class_list":["post-321842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-andrew-rosen","tag-baaeed-alynna","tag-canadian-triple-crown","tag-dale-desruisseaux","tag-dixie-law","tag-don-ique","tag-gainesway","tag-highwaytothemoon","tag-josie-carroll","tag-kevin-attard","tag-kings-plate-stakes","tag-luster","tag-michael-cooke","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-very-special","tag-woodbine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}