On the weekend, Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack witnessed history in the making as the filly Moira recorded a record-setting win in the Queen’s Plate. The Crowd’s favourite horse and jockey Rafael Hernandez, delivered the first Queen’s Plate win out of six attempts for trainer Kevin Attard, thus achieving his life-long goal of winning the prestigious race.
Sunday’s installment of the Queen’s Plate race was the 163rd edition of the event, which is the longest-run Thoroughbred stakes event in the country. It is contested at 1 ¼ mile at the Woodbine Tapeta for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, and on Sunday, August 21, 2022, featured an 11 horse-field and it is the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown.
The Big Winner
After her impressive win in the CA$500,000 Woodbine Oaks last month, Moira was definitely among the candidates for the crown on Sunday. The filly and Mr. Hernandez sat at eight at the half-time mile point, but the two quickly moved into third at the quarter-mile behind Ironstone and the Minkster. After that, the filly simply took off and completed a record-breaking win for the race at 2:01.48.
In an interview after the win, Mr. Attard shared that there were many emotions before the race and that the win is something that he has dreamed of for a long time. However, despite her dominance on the track, the trainer revealed that the horse had pre-race jitters, as according to him, the filly become nervous before the start of the race due to the many people around her.
The win is the second Queen’s Plate victory for Mr. Hernandez who said that even after crossing the final line the hose still had more in her. Moira is now only the eight filly to secure the double of Oaks-Plate. She won all three of her 2022 starts and reached the winner’s circle for the fourth time in five career races.
Hall of Dreams place second, with a second advantage on Sir for Sure who got to third. The standings in order are as follow Ironstone; Dancin in Da’nile; Rondure; Hunt Master; Duke of Love; The Minkster; Causin’ Mayhem; and Shamateur. Moira paid CA$5.60, CA$3.40, and CA$2.90, while Hall of Dreams returned CA$10.60 and CA$7.10, and Sir for Sure paid CA$7.10.
Last year’s edition of the elite Queen’s Plate was won by Safe Conduct, and the track reported an impressive betting handle. According to the company, out of the CA$16.1 in total wagering volume for the card, over CA$3.5 has been accumulated by The Queen’s Plate. Wagering handle for the card in 2021 had an 11% increase from the one of 2020.
More Exciting Races
According to the full Thoroughbred calendar of Woodbine Entertainment, the second Canadian Triple Crown event will be the Prince of Wales Stakes. The race will be contested on September 13, 2022, at the Fort Erie Racetrack. And the third and final race is the Breeders’ Stakes event which will be hosted on October 2, 2022, at Woodbine Racetrack.
Source: Ralph, Dan “Moira wins 163rd running of $1-million Queen’s Plate” CBC, August 21, 2022
