Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Holy Helena eyes Queen’s Plate following Woodbine Oaks win
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The lightly raced Holy Helena surged past Mythical Mission in the final sixteenth to take the $501,600 Woodbine Oaks for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies under jockey Luis Contreras at Woodbine on Sunday. The filly gave trainer Jimmy Jerkens his first Woodbine Oaks victory and owner Stronach Stables its third.
“It’s quite a while since I won the Oaks,” Frank Stronach said following the race. “The Oaks is a special race, and I’m very happy about it.”
Prior to Sunday, Stronach’s most recent Oaks win had come in 2008 with Ginger Brew, who proceeded to run second to Not Bourbon in the Queen’s Plate. Stronach said Holy Helena, a daughter of Ghostzapper, will be considered for the $1 million Queen’s Plate on July 2 after she covered the 1 1/8 miles of the Oaks in 1:50.18, more than a second faster than the Plate Trial, run in 1:51.32 earlier on the card.
“If she comes out of it right, we might think about it,” Stronach said. “The key is how she behaves in the next few days. Normally, I space them out quite a bit. We’ll take a look.”
At least one filly from the Oaks has run in the Queen’s Plate in each of the last nine years. Last year, Gamble’s Ghost finished seventh in the Queen’s Plate after running second to Neshama in the Woodbine Oaks. The last Oaks winner to win the Queen’s Plate was Lexie Lou in 2014.
Guy Caballero surprises in Plate Trial
Guy Caballero sprung an upset in the $125,000 Plate Trial at Woodbine on Sunday, giving trainer Catherine Day Phillips two prospects for the Queen’s Plate.
Guy Caballero sat last in the six-horse field early under jockey Rafael Hernandez behind pacesetter State of Honor but rallied down the lane to get up by a neck over King and His Court.
“He had a perfect trip,” Day Phillips said. “He settled beautifully in behind horses. While he was last, he wasn’t really that far out of it. He was on the bridle and traveling nicely. I saw him lengthening his stride, and I was pretty confident at the head of the lane that he was going to get there.”
The Plate Trial was Guy Caballero’s second start of the year, following a second-place finish in a seven-furlong allowance race May 7.
As a 2-year-old, Guy Caballero had a tendency to pull at the jockey early in his races, but this year, Day Phillips said, he has been relaxing much better early on.
“He’s been more rateable this year,” she said. “We’ve done a lot of work in the mornings. Rafael has breezed him a lot. We’ve sat him behind horses, and he closes into them, and he’s kind of getting the hang of that. It’s a good time of the year to be getting the hang of that.”
Day Phillips also has Watch Me Strut pointing toward the Queen’s Plate after he won an allowance in his first start around two turns June 4.
“I think the two of them deserve a chance,” she said. “He’s an improving horse as well. He’s sharp, and he’s happy.”
Casse has two for Queen’s Plate
Trainer Mark Casse saddled Plate Trial runner-up King and His Court and third-place finisher State of Honor and said following the race that both horses likely will run in the Queen’s Plate.
Casse said King and His Court didn’t show his usual late kick along the rail in the Plate Trial.
“He looked like he was kind of lumbering today,” he said. “Some days he comes with a big kick; today, he was lumbering.”
Meanwhile, State of Honor was making his first start since finishing 19th in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6. He set a moderate pace in the Plate Trial under jockey Patrick Husbands and continued to lead into the stretch before settling for third. State of Honor had worked twice on the Tapeta coming into the Plate Trial, and Casse was pleased with his effort Sunday.
“State of Honor ran big,” he said. “He missed a little time after the Derby. I had told [owners Manfred and Penny Conrad] that this race could help him.”
Casse said State of Honor likely will proceed to the Queen’s Plate despite distance and surface concerns.
“There’s still the question of whether he can go the mile and a quarter,” he said. “The surface is a question. He’s a Canadianbred, and the Queen’s Plate is everything to the Conrads. As long as he’s happy and healthy, three weeks from now, you’ll see him.”