Post by Peter Gross on Jul 5, 2010 4:05:53 GMT -5
Just about the only thing missing from the 151st Queen's Plate was a spine-tingling finish to the race itself. I doubt that jockey Eurico Rosa da Silva or trainer Nick Gonzalez are at all disappointed that their horse Big Red Mike won a race in which he led from the beginning with Hotep running second almost the whole length of the mile and a quarter race. Not exactly one of the Zenyatta coming out of the clouds finishes. Not even close to the final 50 yards of the Canadian Oaks in which Roan Inish squeezed between two rivals to win by a head. Roan Inish was third in the Plate.
So even if the race lacked heart throbbing adrenalin, the day at Woodbine had several memorable aspects. I was gifted by VP of Media Glenn Crouter, a table for eight in the corporate tent which was trackside halfway up the stretch. The lobster and shrimp and roast beef and beverages were abundant and while the huge crowd in the grandstand might have lined up 20 deep to place a bet, that was not an issue in the tent, where betting machines stood empty waiting for my action.
Sadly, this was another typical Queen's Plate for me. My betting record since my first Plate in 1967 is deplorable. I think I've picked three winners and one of them was Jumping Joseph who payed $4.40 to win. I wish I had a dollar for every $100 I've thrown away on Queen's Plate days.
Through 12 races on Sunday, I didn't cash a single ticket. I did hit a couple of doubles at Belmont, but nothing from Woodbine. I took Mobilizer and Giant's Tomb in the Plate and got a mild thrill around the far turn when it appeared that Giant's Tomb was making a nice run, but he flattened in the stretch and finished 4th.
Now normally at the track, nothing matters more to me than my next bet, but I have to admit, it was thoroughly thrilling to see the Queen, decked out in a shimmering aqua suit. I wouldn't be caught dead in a colour like that, but Her Majesty always pulls it off somehow. There was something else I haven't seen since the 70s at Woodbine...a crowd so large that the fifth level looked to be full. And when the Queen got out of black limo at the head of the stretch to sit with her husband in the open, horse drawn landau, there was a huge roar of approval from the mob. As old school as the Royalty might be, it was incredible to see Queen Elizabeth in person.
As for the race, give Eurico Rosa da Silva all the credit. A mile and a quarter under 126 pounds on a hot day at the track is no easy assignment for a three year-old horse. Da Silva recognized that no one was willing to sacrifice his horse and he was able to gallop out gentle fractions that allowed Big Red Mike to have something in the tank for the stretch run. Hotep, under Patrick Husbands ran second the whole race and in the stretch, tried hard to get close, but if anything, Big Red Mike was opening up in the final strides. It was Big Red Mike, Hotep and the filly Roan Inish 1-2-3 at the head of the stretch and that's the way it finished. Not particularly dramatic, but it was a magnificent afternoon for trainer Nick Gonzalez. He was in the winners circle after Daniel Be Good scored in the 9th race for the Terra Racing Stables and just after meeting the Queen who awarded the Plate Trophy, Gonzalez learned that Talk to Da Manager, a horse he trained at Fort Erie, took the final race at the Fort.
It reminds me of the Richard Dreyfuss movie, Let It Ride in which the main character chortles,
"I'm having a good day!"
And Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) had a very good day....it was the largest crowd to attend the track in this century/millenium and clearly they had employed their bank cards - the total amount bet for the day was over $6,800,000 - I'm pretty sure that's a record for a card of racing at Woodbine...
And because I'm obsessive about these things, it appears that I'm the only one who noticed that with two wins on the card, Eurico Rosa da Silva has moved into a tie for first Patrick Husbands in the jockeys riding race.
So even if the race lacked heart throbbing adrenalin, the day at Woodbine had several memorable aspects. I was gifted by VP of Media Glenn Crouter, a table for eight in the corporate tent which was trackside halfway up the stretch. The lobster and shrimp and roast beef and beverages were abundant and while the huge crowd in the grandstand might have lined up 20 deep to place a bet, that was not an issue in the tent, where betting machines stood empty waiting for my action.
Sadly, this was another typical Queen's Plate for me. My betting record since my first Plate in 1967 is deplorable. I think I've picked three winners and one of them was Jumping Joseph who payed $4.40 to win. I wish I had a dollar for every $100 I've thrown away on Queen's Plate days.
Through 12 races on Sunday, I didn't cash a single ticket. I did hit a couple of doubles at Belmont, but nothing from Woodbine. I took Mobilizer and Giant's Tomb in the Plate and got a mild thrill around the far turn when it appeared that Giant's Tomb was making a nice run, but he flattened in the stretch and finished 4th.
Now normally at the track, nothing matters more to me than my next bet, but I have to admit, it was thoroughly thrilling to see the Queen, decked out in a shimmering aqua suit. I wouldn't be caught dead in a colour like that, but Her Majesty always pulls it off somehow. There was something else I haven't seen since the 70s at Woodbine...a crowd so large that the fifth level looked to be full. And when the Queen got out of black limo at the head of the stretch to sit with her husband in the open, horse drawn landau, there was a huge roar of approval from the mob. As old school as the Royalty might be, it was incredible to see Queen Elizabeth in person.
As for the race, give Eurico Rosa da Silva all the credit. A mile and a quarter under 126 pounds on a hot day at the track is no easy assignment for a three year-old horse. Da Silva recognized that no one was willing to sacrifice his horse and he was able to gallop out gentle fractions that allowed Big Red Mike to have something in the tank for the stretch run. Hotep, under Patrick Husbands ran second the whole race and in the stretch, tried hard to get close, but if anything, Big Red Mike was opening up in the final strides. It was Big Red Mike, Hotep and the filly Roan Inish 1-2-3 at the head of the stretch and that's the way it finished. Not particularly dramatic, but it was a magnificent afternoon for trainer Nick Gonzalez. He was in the winners circle after Daniel Be Good scored in the 9th race for the Terra Racing Stables and just after meeting the Queen who awarded the Plate Trophy, Gonzalez learned that Talk to Da Manager, a horse he trained at Fort Erie, took the final race at the Fort.
It reminds me of the Richard Dreyfuss movie, Let It Ride in which the main character chortles,
"I'm having a good day!"
And Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) had a very good day....it was the largest crowd to attend the track in this century/millenium and clearly they had employed their bank cards - the total amount bet for the day was over $6,800,000 - I'm pretty sure that's a record for a card of racing at Woodbine...
And because I'm obsessive about these things, it appears that I'm the only one who noticed that with two wins on the card, Eurico Rosa da Silva has moved into a tie for first Patrick Husbands in the jockeys riding race.
