Holy Helena cruises to Queen’s Plate title
TORONTO — Holy Helena and Luis Contreras delivered a first for Frank Stronach on Sunday.
The Woodbine Oaks champion came from third to easily win the $1-million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Racetrack. The 3 ⁄ -length victory earned Stronach Stables its fourth win of the opening jewel of Canada’s Triple Crown but first with a filly.
“Something like that [winning the Queen’s Plate] doesn’t get boring,” Stronach said. “That’s great, especially if you have a filly that wins the Plate.”
However, Stronach won’t make a Triple Crown run with his prized filly. Stronach said it’s very unlikely Holy Helena will race in the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on July 25 at Fort Erie Racetrack.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “Normally I don’t like to run fillies or any horse that quick after a big race . . . so she gets a little break now.”
And Stronach doesn’t anticipate changing his mind should Holy Helena come out of the Plate better than anticipated.
“You don’t want to go that often to the well,” he said.
So if Contreras wants to pursue a Triple Crown, he’ll again have to do it with multiple horses. In 2011, the Mexicanborn jockey made Canadian thoroughbred racing history by winning all three Triple Crown races aboard two horses.
Contreras won his first Queen’s Plate with filly Inglorious in 2011. But when Inglorious’s handlers opted against going to Fort Erie, Contreras moved aboard Pender Harbour and led him to victory in both the $500,000 Prince of Wales and $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes at Woodbine.
“I did it once,” Contreras said. “I hope, I keep my fingers crossed to do it again.”
Contreras had Holy Helena, the 2-1 favourite, sitting comfortably in third behind Megagray and State of Honor with a quarter-mile remaining. The daughter of Ghostzapper easily took the lead down the stretch and finished the 1 ⁄ -mile race on Woodbine’s tapeta course in 2:02.87.
“Even at the 3/8ths [pole] I had so much horse,” Contreras said. “I looked back, inside, outside and I didn’t see anybody coming.
“When I put her outside and asked her to go, she just continued. I had plenty of horse left at the end . . . she’s something special.”
Tiz a Slam finished second, leaving trainer Roger Attfield tied with Harry Giddings, Jr., for the most career Plate wins (eight). Inflexibility, another filly, was third after finishing third behind Holy Helena and Mythical Mission in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks on June 11.