During the one-session auction, 148 horses sold for $1,518,100. The average was $10,257 and the median was $5,000. With 39 horses reported not sold, the buy-back rate was 20.9%.

A year ago, 172 horses grossed $3,233,600 for an average of $18,800 and a median of $10,000. The buy-back rate was 24.6%.

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Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, agent, consigned the Canadian champion, who was bred by Adena Springs in Ontario and raced for Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC, and X-Men Racing. The Kevin Attard trainee, sold as hip 156, has earned more than $1.4 million and has five black-type wins to her credit. A half to stakes winner Jungle Cry (Animal Kingdom) from the family of GISW Hymn Book (Arch) and Data Link (War Front), Moira sold as a racing or broodmare prospect.

#FasigNovember: Canadian champion MOIRA (Ghostzapper) brings the hammer down at $3 million. Consigned by @HillnDaleFarm! pic.twitter.com/KPhhxZhEVj

— TDN (@theTDN) November 7, 2023

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Jockey Gary Boulanger, whose numerous career highlights include a Queen's Plate victory, has decided to call it a career.

“It's the right time,” Boulanger, 55, told Woodbine Communications. “I don't feel I have anything left to prove. I am so grateful to all the trainers, owners and my fellow riders for their support. Just like anyone who rides horses, there are many ups and downs, but you always find a way to persevere.”

A 2020 Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee, the native of Alberta enjoyed great success over a career that included devastating injuries. He overcame back problems, which required extensive surgery in the late 1990s, and came back from an eight-year absence precipitated by a spill at Gulfstream, which led to life-threatening injuries, in 2005.

No one believed he'd ever ride again, including Boulanger.

But after breezing horses for champion trainer Mark Casse, he rode his first race in eight years at Tampa Bay Downs in 2013. His first victory after the accident came on a Casse horse.

With a return to the saddle came a new perspective on the sport.

“I felt more in-tune with the horses, having more of a connection with them than I ever had. And it was a great feeling.”

As was the feeling Boulanger got when he would bring a horse back to the winner's circle.

His two biggest highlights came at Woodbine.

Moving his tack to the Toronto oval in June 2000, Boulanger partnered Dancethruthedawn (Mr. Prospector) to victory in the 2001 Queen's Plate and Woodbine Oaks.

In 2017, Boulanger received the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award.

Boulanger, whose son Brandon also rides, retires with 3,685 career victories and $83,543,336 in purse earnings.

“I'm not quite sure what is next, but I love the horses, the horse people and the sport,” said Boulanger, who also has a three-year-old son Cristian with wife Jennifer Petricca. “I would like to stay connected to racing, so we'll see what happens. For now, I want to spend time with my family and reflect on how lucky I was to be a jockey. To everyone who supported me… I can't thank you enough.”

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A total of $18,127,049.67 was wagered on Sunday's 13-race King's Plate card, eclipsing the previous record of $18,005,973.60 from the 2019 Queen's Plate. The record handle is also a significant increase from last year's Queen's Plate handle of $13.6 million.

“It's exciting to have ushered in a new era for the Plate in record-breaking fashion,” said Jim Lawson, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment. “We felt good about the buzz surrounding the first King's Plate in over 70 years and that was clearly backed up on Sunday through the energy of our sold-out crowd and the wagering support.”

The King's Plate race, won by Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman), brought in $4,455,176.26 in wagering, including a new record Win Pool of $1,179,172.71. The 17-horse field for the Plate was the largest since 2011.

“Our Racing Team did a great job putting together a competitive and appealing Plate card for horseplayers,” Lawson said. “I'm very proud of our entire team behind the scenes at Woodbine for their efforts. Now we aim to carry this momentum through the remainder of the season and the upcoming major stakes in September and October.”

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“Dan is a highly regarded figure on our backstretch that has his finger on the pulse of our racing community,” Jim Lawson, Woodbine Entertainment CEO, said. “Having the ability to add someone like Dan, who has spent over 50 years on our backstretch and enjoyed success at our highest levels, is a big boost for our stakeholder relationships.”

Vella's first stakes victory came in 1985 with Bert James (Dom Alaric {Fr}) in the Sir Barton Stakes. He won his first Queen's Plate with Basqueian (Bounding Basque) in 1994 and a second in 2012 with Strait of Dover (English Channel). He was honored with the Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding trainer in 1994 and 1995. Overall his runners won over 800 races for $39 million in earnings.

“I am so excited to have this opportunity to work for Woodbine and continue to be involved in the industry and sport that has given me so much,” Vella said.

Vella will begin his new role on Apr. 1.

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The class is led by the achievements of its lone Eclipse Award winner, 2020 champion turf female Rushing Fall (More Than Ready). A 2-year-old in 2017, the half-sister to SW & MGSP Milam (Street Sense) earned her tag with a half-length defeat of fellow 2017 'Rising Star' classmate Daddy Is A Legend (Scat Daddy) at Belmont Park. Two starts later she would take the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and take the second-most votes behind Caledonia Road (Quality Road) to be champion 2-year-old filly. Rushing Fall raced only four time as a 3-year-old but earned 3 wins and a second, capping her season off with a score in the GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. She added two more wins at the highest level as a 4-year-old in 2019 before retiring as a 5-year-old with an impressive final record of 15-11-3-0, six of those being grade ones in four consecutive years, and earnings of $2,893,000. Rushing Fall was purchased by M.V Magnier's Coolmore connections for $5.5 million out of the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars sale.

The most successful colt of the 2017 'Rising Star' class, Mckinzie (Street Sense) didn't debut until late in his 2-year-old year, taking a maiden special weight event at Santa Anita in late October before immediately making an impact with a win via disqualification over future MGISP Solomini (Curlin) in the GI Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity. Though he missed the Triple Crown series as a 3-year-old, McKinzie returned in the fall of 2018 to take the GI Pennsylvania Derby and would finish the year with a win in the GI Malibu S. He would put up one more grade-one win in the 2019 Whitney S. before finishing his career in the fall of 2020 with a record of 18-8-6-0 and earnings of $3,473,360. McKinzie now stands at Gainesway and had his first weanling sell at this year's Keeneland November Sale.

Four more members of the class won multiple times at the grade-one level: Paradise Woods (Union Rags), current WinStar Farm stallion Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}), and Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon). Six other 'Rising Stars' of 2017 would go on to win once against grade-one company: Battle of Midway (Smart Strike), current Hill 'n' Dale Farms stallion Army Mule (Friesan Fire), Pavel (Creative Cause), Lady Ivanka (Tiz Wondeful), Mia Mischief (Into Mischief), and Sporting Chance (Tiznow).

Several notable horses, while not grade-one winners, would place at the level multiple times. Perhaps most notably is 2018 Canadian Horse of the Year and 2017 Canadian champion 2-year-old Wonder Gadot (Medaglia d'Oro) who took both the Queen's Plate S. and the Prince of Wales S. as part of the Canadian Triple Crown following a second-place finish to dual Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks. She would be purchased for $2,000,000 by Japan's KI Farm at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars Sale.

The aforementioned Daddy Is A Legend would hit the board twice in grade-one company behind both Rushing Fall and 2019 champion turf female Uni (GB) (More Than Ready).

There were 16 'Rising Stars' in 2017 who would go on to achieve success in grade two or three events–led by millionaire and current Spendthrift Farm stallion Coal Front (Stay Thirsty).

In total, 28/80 horses who received the 'Rising Star' honor in 2017 would win a graded-stakes race, or 35%. By including those horses that placed in graded events, that number jumps to 49/80, of 61%. An additional nine horses would win at the stakes level and five would be stakes placed. Of the 80, only 17 failed to earn black type in their careers.

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Born in Hokkaido, Japan, Kimura joined the Woodbine jockey colony as a 19-year-old apprentice in 2018. He finished his first Woodbine campaign sixth in the standings with 89 wins and his mounts totaled more than $2.3 million in earnings which earned him an Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding apprentice jockey. He also took home the Sovereign Award as top apprentice in both 2018 and 2019, and was Canada's outstanding journeyman rider in 2021.

This year, Kimura won 15 stakes–six graded–at the Toronto oval, including the GI E.P. Taylor with Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) and the GII King Edward aboard Filo Di Arianna (Brz) (Karakontie {Jpn}).

Rafael Hernandez, who finished second with 122 wins, led the way with 17 stakes victories, including the Queen's Plate (to be known starting in 2023 for the first time in more than 70 years as the King's Plate) with the Kevin Attard-trained Moira (Ghostzapper).

Mark Casse topped the trainer leaderboard for the 14th time, saddling 119 winners and banking  $9.9 million (CDN) in purse earnings. Casse-trained runners recorded 22 Woodbine stakes victories–13 of them graded.

Al and Bill Ulwelling were the leading money-winning owner of the meet for the first time with $1.6 million (CDN) in purses. Bruno Schickedanz led all owners with 45 wins.

Epilogue and Who's the Star led all horses with five wins each at the meet.

Live Thoroughbred racing will return to Woodbine next spring. Visit woodbine.com throughout the winter for news, notes, features, and other coverage of Woodbine-based horse people.

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“The Plate is one of the most celebrated events in horse racing, and we're proud to celebrate its history while starting a new chapter under the banner of The King's Plate,” said Jim Lawson, Woodbine Entertainment's CEO. “Those who attend can expect more than elite-level horse racing. They can soak in the elements of food, fashion, and culture that have become associated with this prestigious annual event while enjoying moments designed for a new generation of race fans. We're excited to share more details about The King's Plate in the months to come.”

First run in 1860 with a purse of 50 guineas from Queen Victoria to Canadian-bred horses, the prize from the British monarchy still continues this day. The Queen's Plate was renamed in 1901 to The King's Plate during the reign of four consecutive kings, then returned to The Queen's Plate moniker in 1952 when Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. In September, King Charles III was named British monarch.

The King's Plate is Canada's oldest and most prestigious Thoroughbred race and the 2023 running, worth $1 million and the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, will mark the 164th edition.

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The weekend was almost perfect for Lanni, except for the hex that jockey Rafael Hernandez put on Moira in the Gl E.P. Taylor S., choosing the wrong path for her at a crucial stage in the race. Turning for home, Moira was behind five runners fanned ahead of her, and Hernandez, looking for a seam, chose to go inside where there was no room. In the process, he nearly took down Peter Brant's Lemista (Ire), who checked hard. Once on the rail, Moira still had nowhere to advance until late in the stretch, and by the time Hernandez slipped her through a narrow gap, the finish was fast approaching. Rougir (Ire), owned by Brant and Michael Tabor, nailed her by a neck, flying uninterrupted on the outside. No surprise, Moira was disqualified from second to eighth, but with a clean run she may well have proven the best in the race.

Lanni was still steaming on Sunday when we spoke. He'd purchased Moira for $150,000 at Keeneland September two years ago for a group of Canadian horsemen and friends who race as X-Men Racing. Lanni clients Madaket Racing and SF Racing, who are a part of the “Avengers” group that race colts with Bob Baffert, are co-owners. “Brant's filly could have gotten hurt, and I'm worried about our filly,” Lanni said of the incident.

The local E.P. Taylor was carefully chosen for Moira to get Grade l black-type on her resume.

“She was like a greyhound as a yearling, a long-distance type for turf and all-weather, not a horse for dirt. She's a classy filly, but not a typical Ghostzapper physically. Ghostzapper looked like a miler, he could sprint and go a mile and a quarter. She's not that way.”

Bred in Canada by Adena Springs and trained by Kevin Attard, the 3-year-old had previously raced exclusively on Woodbine's all-weather course against other Canadian-breds her age, but blowout wins in the Woodbine Oaks and the Queen's Plate against colts suggested she was something special. That was confirmed in the E.P. Taylor, regardless of the outcome. The race was Moira's first start on turf, her first against open company, and her first against elders, and she proved she belongs. She's now won four of six starts and earned $908,682. Rougir was a Group 1 winner in Europe last year and was purchased by Brant and Tabor at Arqana for the equivalent of $3.4 million.

War Like Goddess

War Like Goddess, trained by Bill Mott for owner George Krikorian, is a 5-year-old mare. She defeated males in the Gl Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. and goes next in the Gl Breeders' Cup Turf. A winner of nine of 12 starts and $1,612,184, the daughter of English Channel was bred by Calumet, sold for $1,200 as a weanling at Keeneland November, was unsold as a $1,000 RNA at Keeneland September, and made $30,000 at OBS June when Lanni bought her.

“You just don't see too many English Channels showing up at an OBS 2-year-old sale,” Lanni said. “That's not what they're supposed to do. They are long on the grass. Anyway, she shows up and works and goes in like :10 2/5 and does really well. She's got a great stride and great action, but she comes back and she's got some pretty good shins on her. They were pretty big. I call them summer shins–shins that last all summer. And so I said to myself, there's only one guy I know who'd take this filly, meaning you need to be patient with her and give her time, and that was George Krikorian. I hadn't bought him a horse in a long time, so I called him.”

Lanni developed a relationship with Krikorian during his early days in Kentucky at Texan Johnny T.L. Jones Jr.'s Walmac International, which stood standouts Nureyev and Alleged among other well-known stallions. An outsized figure with a grin as big as his personality, Johnny Jones also gave Lane's End Bloodstock's David Ingordo, WTC's Frances J. Karon, Stonestreet advisor and agent John Moynihan, and Four Star's Kerry Cauthen a home at one time or another.

“[George Krikorian] was the first guy who ever let me buy him a horse where I actually got paid a commission for buying the horse,” Lanni said. “That was Starrer in 1999 at Fasig-Tipton. We'd gotten to be friends, he said he trusted me, likes me, and said if I see anything I like, buy it.

“When I found Starrer, I called him and said I found him a filly, and he said to just buy it and hung up. I'm in my mid-20s, and I'm like, 'What does that mean, just buy it?' I'm nervous. I don't have a signed agent agreement, I don't have any money, and what do I do If this guy walks away from me?”

Lanni paid $35,000 for the yearling Starrer, a daughter of Dynaformer who became a multiple Grade l winner for Krikorian and trainer John Shirreffs, earning $1,043,033 through four seasons.

“He's been my longtime friend and a client since. He's the greatest,” Lanni said.

Cave Rock

Undefeated Cave Rock appears to be the leading 2-year-old colt heading to the Breeders' Cup. The son of Arrogate won the Gl American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita impressively–his second top-level win from three starts–and has now earned $408,000 for trainer Baffert and the “Three Amigos” partnership of Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman. Bred by Anne and Ronnie Sheffer Racing, Cave Rock was a $550,000 Keeneland September yearling.

After the Walmac stint, Lanni went next to John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale, where he was a longtime presence until Sikura moved the Hill 'n' Dale operation to Xalapa a few years ago. It was through Sikura that Lanni established a relationship with Baffert, and it's under the Baffert banner that Lanni's reputation has grown.

“[Baffert] is not just an amazing horse trainer and person, he's also amazing at finding young horses at auction,” Lanni said. “He's been great at that forever, and he's taught me a lot. I can't ever take credit for what I do with Bob, because Bob is instrumental, but we work together closely and it's a team effort. I don't buy a horse for Bob if he doesn't agree.”

They agreed on Cave Rock.

Lanni said, “If he was a first-crop Arrogate, he would have made seven figures. He was amazing, he was beautiful. He had beautiful bone, he was correct, he had a great hind leg. But last year, no one wanted an Arrogate.”

Because the Avengers are usually looking for colts by proven sires to turn into stallions, Cave Rock didn't fit the profile, but he was a natural for the Three Amigos.

“Bob and Mike have been together from the beginning, and when we shop the sales, those guys are always ready to buy,” Lanni said. “They don't care about sires, they don't care about pedigrees, they want physicals and they want runners.”

Avengers and X-Men

Why Avengers and X-Men? Lanni said the Avengers nickname came about as convenient shorthand to refer to the string of owners in the SF/Madaket/Starlight group.

“And the reason I came up with Avengers is that my daughters and I watch all those Marvel movies, and I love them,” he said. “And it's great because everybody has a certain talent that they bring to the table, and it fit the group.”

When buying for the Avengers–a team effort with the principals, Lanni stressed–the criteria gets more specific: proven sires like Into Mischief, Quality Road, etc., and the physiques that will handle training and racing on dirt at the highest levels. “Tom [Ryan] put the Avengers together. It's Tom's masterpiece, and it's a great team.”

The SF/Madaket/Starlight group was a minority shareholder with WinStar and China Horse Club in Triple Crown winner Justify, who was purchased at Keeneland September for $500,000 and sold for $75 million to Coolmore in 2018. After breaking away and enlisting Lanni, the Avengers struck gold again at Keeneland that year, buying three of the 25 colts that would go on to win Grade l races from the catalogue: Eight Rings, a $520,000 yearling who was sold to Coolmore for $10 million; Charlatan, a $700,000 purchase that was sold to stand at Hill 'n' Dale for $10 million; and Horse of the Year and Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Authentic, who was purchased for $350,000 and sold to Spendthrift at a valuation of $36 million.

There were 10 fillies catalogued in the sale that also won Grade l races, and though Lanni didn't buy them there, he did buy two of them at the juvenile sales: Gamine, with Baffert, for $1.8 million at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic; and the previously mentioned War Like Goddess, for $30,000 at OBS June.

Lanni is from Canada, where he cut his teeth with Standardbreds, and some of his friends in the X-Men partnership for which Moira races go back a ways with him from those days. Lanni said Moira was one of seven yearlings he purchased for the first X-Men partnership. For the second batch, 2-year-olds this year, he already has Grade l winner Last Call, another English Channel filly. Bred by English Channel Co-Owners & Jodi Cantwell, Last Call, also co-owned by SF, was bought for $30,000 at Keeneland September last year and won the Natalma S. at Woodbine last month.

“I shop the entire catalog, from the first day to the last,” Lanni said. “I don't want to miss a single horse, and you never know where you'll find that good one.”

He seems to have a knack for finding them wherever they are, in all price ranges.

Sid Fernando is president and CEO of Werk Thoroughbred Consultants, Inc., originator of the Werk Nick Rating and eNicks.

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“The race is at home and at a distance of a mile and a quarter,” Attard said. “She had a work over the turf course [five furlongs in 1:01.20] on Saturday and seemed to get over it very well and looked comfortable doing it. Those were the factors that played into it. The Keeneland race was very appealing, but we would have had to ship and put her on a van. She does have some quirks, so we weren't too sure about that because no one knows how she would handle shipping or if there would be any negative impact from that. We thought it be a safer bet to stay at home.”

Moira, who is 4-for-5 lifetime, was an easy winner of the Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, beating her fellow Ontario-breds by seven lengths. Attard and the owners, X-Men Racing, Madaket Stablkes LLC and SF Racing LLC, decided afterward to pass on the remaining two legs of the series in order to give their filly a chance of winning a Grade I race. In her lone try in graded company, Moira was second in last year's GIII Mazarine S.

Attard acknowledged that the E.P. Taylor will be a tough spot for his filly.

“She's obviously taking a big step up in class and is facing older horses for the first time,” he said. “There is a bit of a weight advantage.

Being a 3-year-old facing older fillies she will get four pounds. But it's always nice to stick to your own age group if you can. At the end of the day there is no such thing as an easy Grade I.”

All five of the filly's starts have come on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine. Attard is confident the switch to the grass will not be a problem.

“I think she will handle it,” he said. “Her dam is Devine Aida (Unbridled's Song) and she was a stakes winner on the turf. She has a sibling that was a minor stakes winner on the turf. She's bred to handle the turf and she looked good working over it. The forecast looks good for this week, so it looks like we will get a firm turf course. That's something else we factored into it.”

Depending on how she fares Saturday, Moira could return in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

“That is a possibility,” Attard said. “With the E.P. Taylor being four weeks from the Breeders' Cup versus three weeks for the Queen Elizabeth, that played into our decision as well.”

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