Let’s get in the mood for some quality horsepower – check out the video of FRANKEL yesterday at Royal ascot. he is 11 for 11 and he won by..11!!

 

 

QUEEN’S PLATE NEARS

Prince Raphael withdrawn

Longshot PRINCE RAPHAEL has sustained an injury and will not contest the Queen’s Plate on Sunday according to trainer Debbie England.
The field rests at 14 before entries are taken for it tomorrow morning.

*Note: Both Saturday and Sunday’s racecards will be drawn today other than the Plate.
Post time for Sunday is 12 NOON.

 

A visit to the steamy, and I mean steamy backstretch at Woodbine yesterday was a journey to talk to backstretch people and check out Queen’s Plate entrants.

The heat and humidity is almost too much to bear right now but the relief comes by Friday. Today it will be just as hot for another trip to the barns.

The FORECAST for Sunday stands at 24 degrees and partly cloudy, humidity at about 29 degrees.

The talk of the Plate really rests on STRAIT OF DOVER, who should be 2 to 1, perhaps less, while RIVER RUSH, Frank Stronach’s booming Plate Trial winner, will be in the 5 to 2 range.

Not many Plate starts have posted Beyer Figures in the 80’s,check out the history of Beyer Figures from Plate Trial and Plate winners in recent years:

 

HANDICAPPING: DOES THE HORSE ‘FIG’-URE?

Speed ratings, speed figures, sheet numbers and graphs. There are many handicapping
tools available for handicappers to use to sort out contenders from pretenders in
any given horse race.
Beyer Speed Figures, formulated by Andy Beyer in 1975 and published in Daily
Racing Form since 1992, is a number assigned to a horse’s performance based on its
time taking into account the speed of the racetrack on any particular day.
Since ‘92, the Beyer ‘par’ for the Plate, the average winning figure, is 96. Any three-year-
old entering the race that has already come close to posting such a number is an
automatic consideration when placing you bet. Projecting a horse that appears to be
peaking up to that plateau is also a handy approach.
Note that the last two Plate Trial winners also went on to win the Plate.

 

Yr Plate winner   Plate winning Beyer   Plate Trial Beyer (Plate Trial winner)

1988 REGAL INTENTION 102 –  n/a
1989 WITH APPROVAL 99 – n/a
1990 IZVESTIA 113 – n/a
1991 DANCE SMARTLY 102 100
1992 ALYDEED 105 105
1993 PETESKI 101 88 (Circulating)
1994 BASQUEIAN 103 93
1995 REGAL DISCOV’Y 99 96 (All Firmed Up)
1996 VICTOR COOLEY 102 103
1997 AWESOME AGAIN 100 97 (Cryptocloser)
1998 ARCHERS BAY 106 98 (Brite Adam)
1999 WOODCARVER 97 88 (Catahoula Parish)
2000 SCATTER THE GOLD   92 89 (Pete’s Sake)
2001 DANCETHRUTH’N 94 96 (Win City)
2002 T J’S LUCKY MOON 86 89 (Shaws Creek)
2003 WANDO                 111 95 (Mobil)
2004 NIIGON                 97 97 (A Bit O’Gold)
2005 WILD DESERT    92 92 (Dance With Ravens)
2006 EDENWOLD         94 81 (Pipers Thunder)
2007 MIKE FOX            90 88 (Jiggs Coz)
2008 NOT BOURBON   93 88 (Not Bourbon)
2009 EYE OF THE LEOPARD 92 85 (Eye of the Leopard)
2010 BIG RED MIKE     92 91 (Big Red Mike)
2011 INGLORIOUS       99  90 (Check Your Soul)

(Before 1992, Beyer Figures calculated by the author)

 

Macho Whiskey has his final prep for the Plate on the training track earlier this week under Emma-Jayne Wilson Janis Maine photo

 

 

HERE’S A LOOK AT THE FIELD AND SOME NOTES:

BIG CREEK – last 3 Beyers from most recent 78, 81, 65
dk b/.c.3 by Indian Charlie(In Excess (IRE)) – Major Idea(Cherokee Run)
Green Hills Farm Inc. Todd A. Pletcher

*No workout since his Plate Trial race, American-owned, owner and jock have not won Plate

CLASSIC BRYCE – 78. 76. 82

dk b/.c.3 by Grand Slam(Gone West) – Classic Stamp(Regal Classic)
William Sorokolit Darwin D. Banach

*Owner and trainer seeking 1st Plate win

COLLEEN’S SAILOR 78,. 76 77
b.c.3 by Northern Afleet(Afleet) – Colleen’s Scorpion(Scorpion)
Terra Di Sienna Stables Roger L. Attfield

*American owned, owner has not won Plate, Attfield going for no, 9, colt has never hit the 80 mark in Beyer Figures

DIXIE STRIKE,69. 89. 77
B.F. Dixie Union – Noble Strike
John Oxley Mark Casse

*Owner and trainer seeking first Plate win
half sister won Oaks/Plate double last year

GOLDEN RIDGE 84, 83, 77

ch.c.3 by Distorted Humor(Forty Niner) – Indian Vale(A.P. Indy)
Melnyk Racing Stable Inc. Mark E. Casse

*Trainer seeks first Plate win

IRISH MISSION, 73, 73, 73
ch.f.3 by Giant’s Causeway(Storm Cat) – Misty Mission(Miswaki)
Robert S. Evans Mark R. Frostad

*American owned, Frostad has won several Plates

MACHO WHISKEY, (would have to be supplemented for $25,000)   76. 84, 69
g. Macho Uno – Whiskey and Low
Harlequin Ranches Reade Baker

*Owner/trainer seek first Plate win, filly Gold Strike came close

MAKING AMENDS 74, 79, 68

b.c.3 by Repent(Louis Quatorze) – Primary Motive(Prime Timber)
Quintessential Racing Florida LLC, Horse’nAround Racing Stable & R. Lederman Mark E. Casse

*Casse seeks first Plate win as do owners

PEYTON 78. 75. 86
dk b/.g.3 by Tale of the Cat(Storm Cat) – Emanating(Cox’s Ridge)
Windhaven Michael J. Doyle

*Owner/trainer looking for 1st Plate

RIVER RUSH 89. 79. 57
b.c.3 by Orientate(Mt. Livermore) – Sweet Tart(Lemon Drop Kid)
Stronach Stables Reade Baker

*Trainer seeks first Plate, as does Jock

STRAIT OF DOVER 88, 84, 85
dk b/.c.3 by English Channel(Smart Strike) – Bahrain Star(Danzig)
Canyon Farms Daniel J. Vella

*Owner/jock seek first Plate win

ULTIMATE DESTINY 77, 68, 66
ch.g.3 by Dance to Destiny(Mr. Prospector) – One On Tap(Pleasant Tap)
Brenda K. Selwyn-Waxman Michael Keogh

*Owner seeks first Plate

WILCOX, 70, 68
Giant’s Causeway – Checker Hall
Eugene MelnyK, Josie Carroll

*Trainer has won 2 of last 3 Plates

WASHINGTON DASH 68, 73, 42
Smart strike – Pretty Dutch
Silverton HIll LLC Darrin Miller

 

 

Golden Ridge at the Queen’s Plate barbecue -Cindy Pierson Dulay photo

 

 

 

FRANKEL – PROVISIONAL RATING OF 147 IS HIGHEST IN TIMEFORM HISTORY!
Let’s get this superstar to Woodbine in September!!

 

Frankel was on Tuesday given a provisional Timeform rating of 147 for his Queen Anne victory at Royal Ascot, a figure which would put him at the top of the all-time list of Flat ratings.

David Johnson, Timeform ‘s Flat Editor, commented “The facts are that Frankel’s performance is likely to surpass anything witnessed in Timeform’s 64-year history. To give some perspective on just how phenomenal this effort was, in provisionally rating Frankel 147, we still have Excelebration (runner-up) running more than a stone below his previous best (133)…

Timeform’s All-Time Highest-Rated Horses

147 Frankel (Provisional)
145 Sea Bird II
144 Brigadier Gerard, Tudor Minstrel
142 Abernant, Ribot, Windy City
141 Mill Reef
140 Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Sea The Stars, Shergar, Vaguely Noble

Timeform Global Rankings

1 Frankel 147
2 Black Caviar 136
3= Cirrus Des Aigles 133
3= Excelebration 133
5= Danedream 132
5= Hay List 132
7= Cityscape 131
7= So You Think 131
7= Strong Suit 131
7= Wise Dan 131

http://www.thoroughbrednews.com.au/international/default.aspx?id=60429

 

NEED TO READS….

HORSE RACING BILLBOARD/WEBSITE CAMPIAGN TARGETS PREMIER MCGUINTY.

Former Liberal MP Dennis Mills wants to talk some horse sense into Dalton McGuinty — via billboards in Toronto — during the lead up to Sunday’s $1 million Queen’s Plate.

In Mills’ bid to challenge the premier’s plan to remove slots machines from Ontario racetracks, which have shared gaming profits with the province, two large billboards featuring a horse and foal will be erected Friday near Woodbine Racetrack just 48 hours before Canada’s most prestigious thoroughbred race is run there. There will be about 100 signs in all, some billboards, others posted throughout the city’s subway system and will state:

“Mr. Premier, a partnership is not a subsidy.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1213285–horse-racing-billboard-campaign-targets-premier-dalton-mcguinty

 

 

DARWIN BANACH/TODD KABEL FEATURE
Horse racing partnership stands the test of time

Beverley Smith

TORONTO — The Globe and Mail

What a team it is: tall, willowy trainer Darwin Banach and jockey Todd Kabel, a foot shorter, a former champ making a remarkable comeback after two years away from thoroughbred racing.

Both are 46, both were born on the prairies, and they are linked together this week by their association with a promising colt, Classic Bryce. It would mean so much to them if the horse, owned by Bill Sorokolit of Toronto, were to win the Queen’s Plate on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack here.

Sure the money is good – $600,000 to the winner – and so is the prestige, but this Queen’s Plate for both of them means much more. As long as Banach’s career has been, he has never even entered a horse in the prestigious race, although he’s known as the trainer of top older horse Sky Conqueror, who was third in the 2006 Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine – with Kabel aboard.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/horse-racing-partnership-stands-the-test-of-time/article4346555/

 

STORY ON WANDO
Decent piece from CBC on the Triple Crown champ (not former TC champ)

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2012/06/19/spf-horse-racing-queens-plate-wando.html

 

OBS JUNE SALE

British Columbia Two Year Old

HIP                  COLOR       YEAR
NO.      NAME         SEX        FOALED     SIRE                 DAM
329    My Classical Rose……..B F……….10  Corinthian……………Switch Lanes

ONTARIO BRED Two Year Old

HIP                  COLOR       YEAR
NO.      NAME         SEX        FOALED     SIRE                 DAM

51  $75,0000 Blinkers On Stable    …………………….DKB/BR C…..10  Ghostzapper…………..Just Breezing
110   OUT  …………………….B C……….10  Sligo Bay (IRE)……….Majestic Strike
177    $15,000 KOID Passing Flasher……….DKB/BR C…..10  Bold n’ Flashy………..Passing Star
193   NOT SOLD ($19,000)  Storminateacup………..B F……….10  Aljabr……………….Polish Words
196   $7,000 Camarero  …………………….B C……….10  Good Reward…………..Prairie City
241  OUT   …………………….DKB/BR C…..10  Marcavelly……………Sarah Supreme
393    Shot Maker……………B C……….10  Trajectory……………Wild Romp
422    …………………….B F……….10  Spring At Last………..Alycheer
434    Indy Signal…………..CH C………10  Indygo Shiner…………Apache Signal
461  OUT   …………………….B F……….10  Marcavelly……………Bella Linda
538    …………………….B C……….10  Marcavelly……………Curly Girl
543    Lookingformywallet…….DKB/BR F…..10  Weather Warning……….Dancer’s Trick
572    …………………….DKB/BR C…..10  Candy Ride (ARG)………Dowd Chapel
575    Rocket Launcher……….B C……….10  Trajectory……………Dynamite Dancer
585    Weather Bill………….DKB/BR C…..10  Weather Warning……….Embossed
588    …………………….B C……….10  Tiznow……………….Engaging
603    Kissing Up a Storm…….CH F………10  Weather Warning……….Fair Amour

CANADIAN BUYERS

144 10 C. SIMON PURE /MS LUCILLE Richard Hogan, agent $25,000

255 10 F. LEROIDESANIMAUX (B/SHAHRAZAD SKY James Perron Racing $30,000

317 10 F. GRAEME HALL /STORY OF GLORY Arthur Silver, agent $16,000