Queen's Plate

It's not often that a double-digit longshot romps by 7 1/2 lengths in a million-dollar race, but that's the feat Larry Cordes's Mighty Heart (Dramedy) pulled off in the Queen's Plate. Sept. 12 at Woodbine. Tuesday, the homebred will look to prove that was no fluke in the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales S., at Fort Erie. Bearing out badly in two unsuccessful tries to open his career in the winter at Fair Grounds, Mighty Heart was given nearly four months off and came...

Saturday's live program at Woodbine, featuring the coronavirus-delayed Queen's Plate, generated betting turnover of $14,532,678, nearly $3.5 million of that on the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown alone. The handle ranks as the third-highest in the history of the race. "While this year's Queen's Plate might be remembered for not having fans in the stands, I would much rather it be remembered for the collective efforts of so many people that allowed this race to be run and its storied history continued to be written," said Jim Lawson,...

Odds were that if Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll was going to win her third Queen's Plate, it'd come with heavy favorite and Woodbine Oaks winner Curlin's Voyage. Instead, her other two entrants made up a longshot exacta, with lightly raced and one-eyed Mighty Heart dominating the Canadian Classic. Fourth in a rained-off Fair Grounds mile event in February, the bay colt bore out on the turn and crossed the wire 11th when getting on the grass there a month later (he was later officially moved up one spot...

A pair of fillies, including Canada's reigning champion 2-year-old filly Curlin's Voyage (Curlin), will take aim at 13 sophomore colts in Saturday's $1-million Queen's Plate S., historically the first jewel in Canada's Triple Crown. The winner of the Aug. 15 Woodbine Oaks, the Hill 'n' Dale Equine and Windsor Boys Racing-owned filly is trained by Josie Carroll, who previously won the 10-furlong Classic with another filly--Inglorious in 2011--and with Edenwold in 2006. In this renewal, Carroll will also saddle Belichick (Lemon Drop Kid)  and Mighty Heart (Dramedy). "We've always thought...

SPOTLIGHT ON RUNHAPPY BABY IN LOADED SARATOGA MAIDEN 6th-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:57 p.m. ET HAPPYMAC (Runhappy), an $800,000 RNA at the OBS June Sale (:20 3/5), looks like the one to beat in this extremely deep baby race at the Spa. The half-brother to runaway GII Amsterdam S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint runner-up Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) fired a five-furlong bullet from the gate in :59 2/5 (1/12) at Saratoga Aug. 17. Happymac, drawn widest of all in post 10 for the Heiligbrodts and Hall of Famer...

Despite facing more seasoned rivals in Saturday's GIII Marine S. at Woodbine, Shirl's Speight (Speightstown) looms large in the traditional primer for the Queen's Plate, scheduled for Sept. 12. Sent off at 3-1 for a trainer not typically known for his first-time starters, the Roger Attfield trainee took control in the early going of the seven-furlong turf test July 4 and rolled home an emphatic eight-length winner under Rafael Hernandez, becoming a TDN Rising Star in the process. The Charles Fipke hombred is out of Perfect Shirl (Perfect Soul {Ire})--a...

Woodbine Entertainment and premier Canadian sports broadcasting network TSN are expanding their broadcast partnership to bring Canadians live horse racing every Thursday night throughout the summer with Racing Night Live, the two companies announced jointly Wednesday. The action begins Thursday, June 11 at 6 p.m. ET on TSN and features a mix of live Thoroughbred races from Woodbine in Toronto and Standardbred races from Mohawk in Milton, Ont. "We're thrilled to partner with Woodbine Entertainment to bring Canadians exclusive access to live, weekly horse racing action," said Shawn Redmond, Vice...

Having already announced that the Queen's Plate would be held Sept. 12, Woodbine Entertainment released the remainder of the Woodbine Racetrack stakes schedule Wednesday. Featuring 75 stakes worth C$13.8 million, highlights include the C$1-million GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, slated for Saturday, Sept. 19 and a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Due to complications with travel due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the GI Pattison Canadian International has been cancelled for 2020. The meet will open on Saturday, June 6 and end Sunday, Dec. 13....

The Queen's Plate, originally scheduled for June, has been rescheduled for Sept. 12, Woodbine Entertainment announced Monday. "The history of The Queen's Plate is so rich and the fact that it's been held every year since the inaugural race in 1860 is remarkable," said Jim Lawson, CEO, Woodbine Entertainment. "We are honored to be able to continue this rich history in face of adversity by hosting the race for the 161st consecutive year." The $1-million stakes race was postponed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was originally scheduled...

Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) is planning to seek approval for a June 6 or 13 start for its pandemic-delayed Thoroughbred race meet, and the firm's chief executive officer, Jim Lawson, said in a public video chat Tuesday that he does not expect overnight purses to be adversely affected this year despite mounting losses from the closure of WEG's gaming facilities. Woodbine will also seek to move its signature stakes race, the Queen's Plate, from June 27 to a September date that has yet to be determined. Lawson said one near-term...

Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson told the Toronto Sun that he anticipates racing will resume at the Ontario track in approximately six weeks. "With the optimism that we all need to share, we anticipate that we are approximately six weeks away from resuming live racing (under the strict conditions being developed with the AGCO) if the Provincial Declaration of Emergency is lifted and parts of the economy are permitted to gradually re-open following government and health officials' guidelines," Lawson told the Sun. "I will continue to provide updates in the coming...

The 161st running of The Queen's Plate will be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Woodbine Entertainment announced Wednesday. The event was originally scheduled for Saturday, June 27. While a new date has not been confirmed, Woodbine said in a statement that it intends to host The Queen's Plate at Woodbine this year, subject to recommendations and restrictions from government and health officials related to the COVID-19 pandemic. "The Queen's Plate is the oldest continuously run race in North America and we have every intention of keeping it that way,"...