The King’s Plate has survived two world wars and two global pandemics. But determining its 165th champion will have to wait until Friday because of good old rain.
Racing at Woodbine was cancelled after five races on Saturday. Those races were contested in miserable conditions as a thunderstorm menacingly rolled through the Greater Toronto Area. The Plate was scheduled to be the 11th of 13 races scheduled.
“So much rain came down in a short amount of time,” Woodbine CEO Michael Copeland said. “Whenever there are safety concerns with the track, we all huddle to make decisions regardless of the circumstances with safety as a priority.”
“We consult with our vets and the jockeys and made the determination that it was unsafe to continue. We then decided the race, and the four other stakes races will be run on Friday.”
In addition to the $1-million Plate, the other races affected were the $150,000 Soaring Free Stakes, the $150,000 Bold Venture Stakes, the $200,000 King Edward Stakes and the $150,000 Catch a Glimpse Stakes.
After the first race of the card went off without issue, the early-afternoon thunderstorm severely altered the rest of the day. Fans waited more than an hour for the second race, won by Jim’s Hope with Emma-Jayne Wilson aboard.
After the fourth race, there was another short delay as issues surfaced on parts of the track. The fifth race was run, won by Blueberry Fields with Justin Stein aboard. But the track’s jockeys reported a further deterioration of the surface. The sixth race was delayed nearly an hour before track stewards made the final decision to cancel.
Left hanging in all this were nearly 20,000 ticketholders, many hanging around the Hats and Horseshoes party anticipating performances by singer Lu Kala and Olympic gold medal-winning breakdancer Phil Kim (Phil Wizard).
“We know these are disappointed fans,” Copeland said. “And we’re looking (forward) to communicating to them quickly. Everyone who bought a ticket will get a communication shortly.”
The Plate drew a field of 13 horses, though early in the day, Bedard, one of four entries for trainer Kevin Attard, was scratched. The race will not be redrawn. My Boy Prince, the top two-year-old in Canada last year, was established as the 7-5 morning-line favourite with Marine Stakes winner Essex Serpent at 2-1. Both horses are trained by Mark Casse.
The King Edward, Soaring Free and Catch a Glimpse are local preps for three major turf races on Sept. 14, respectively the Woodbine Mile, the Summer Stakes and the Natalma Stakes. Had they been run Saturday, they would have been run on the main track. The rescheduling gives them a chance to being run on the turf. The Bold Venture, a sprint race, will be run on Tapeta as scheduled. Sunday’s card of racing at Woodbine should go as scheduled.
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