Safe Conduct

With the absence of Queen's Plate S. hero Safe Conduct (Bodemeister), who will await the Breeders' S. on turf for his next engagement, a handful of horses who followed him home in that Woodbine feature will try dirt Tuesday at Fort Erie in an eight-horse renewal of the Prince of Wales S., the middle jewel of Canada's Triple Crown. Given the narrowest of nods on the morning line at 5-2 is Ivan Dalos's H C Holiday (Ami's Holiday). Scoring against $40,000 maiden optional claiming foes second out at Woodbine, he...

It's been a difficult few years for Phil Serpe and his stable. Like many smaller outfits trying to compete at a top-tier racing circuit, he has seen his number of horses dwindle as owners move in favor of consolidating their operations in the barns of "super trainers". Partly due to circumstance, partly due to that increasing monopolization of the sport, Serpe has had an especially trying 2021. Heading into this past weekend, he had just two winners to his name since the calendar turned--a 4-year-old maiden-breaker named King Angelo (Lemon...

A total of $16,122,170 was wagered on Sunday's 13-race Queen's Plate card at Woodbine, including $3,491,564 on the feature. The total handle for the day is second-only to the 2019 event total of $18,005,973 and tops the 2020 handle of $14,532,678 by 11%. "This year's Queen's Plate brought the energy of our great sport back in full-force to Woodbine with an outstanding crowd and thrilling racing," said Jim Lawson. "It's evident that this excitement was felt across North America and we're elated to see the support this great day of...

WellSpring Stables' New York invader Safe Conduct (Bodemeister) pressed, pounced and just held off the late-charging Riptide Rock (Point of Entry) to win the 162nd Queen's Plate in a dramatic finish at Woodbine Sunday. With top U.S. jockey Irad Ortiz, riding in his first Queen's Plate, in the irons and making his first start over a synthetic surface, the 3-1 favorite was under a hold while tracking longshot pacesetter Take a Chance (Munnings) through fractions of :24.01 and :48.37. The bay colt rolled up to challenge the pacesetter nearing the...