From Oak Bluff To The Queen’s Plate: Cole Bennett Is A Truebeliever

Regardless of the number he sees displayed beside his horse's number on the toteboard when the Queen's Plate gates open, 23-year-old trainer Cole Bennett will be smiling.

It's a day he's dreamed of the moment he watched jockey Patrick Husbands and super filly Lexie Lou win the 2014 Plate for owner Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse.

'What if that were me one day?' the then teenager from Oak Bluff (population 1,051), Manitoba, said to himself as he watched Lexie Lou surrounded by her elated connections in the Woodbine winner's circle after the 155th edition of Canada's most famous horse race.

That was one year before Bennett, raised on a 27-acre hobby farm, launched his own training career at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg.

Now, in his sixth year as a trainer, and based at Woodbine, he doesn't have to ask himself that question any longer.

Bennett, who at age of 14 bought a racehorse with his father, Glen, has his answer.

“I'm pretty excited to be in the Queen's Plate. It's always been a dream and now it's turned into a reality.”

His hopes in the 161st edition of the “Gallop for the Guineas” are carried on the hooves of the aptly named Truebelieve, who sports a 2-1-0 record from five starts for owner Centennial Farms (Niagara) Inc.

The son of Nephrite (GB), bred by Laurel Byrne, delivered a 64-1 score (for different connections) in his debut last November at Woodbine, crossing the wire a 1 ½-length winner at five furlongs over the Tapeta.

Truebelieve earned his second career win two starts ago when the colt rallied for a half-length victory at six furlongs over the Woodbine main track.

Bennett believes the bay, second in the Kingarvie Stakes last December, will be up for the challenge when he contests one of horse racing's most iconic events.

The same can also be said of the conditioner.

Launching his training career in 2015 at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Bennett has already made a name for himself in racing circles.

Confidence in his abilities is complemented by an open mind and an unwavering commitment to self-improvement.

These days, the man who won a career-best 15 races four years ago is taking a measured approach in the lead-up to Saturday's $1 million classic.

He knows the butterflies will come sooner rather than later.

Even so, Bennett, who has a pair of added-money wins to date, isn't the type to be rattled.

For the past six years, the Plate has been a pursuit, albeit a back-of-mind hope, for him. Whether that dream would ever come to fruition felt like a 99-1 longshot at times.

Last winter, that all changed.

“I actually really liked Truebelieve last year when he first ran,” said Bennett, of the dazzling debut on November 2 at Woodbine. “The person who had him before us, I know he was trying to sell him. I had a couple of clients that I was trying to get to buy him. But we could just never get the deal done.

“I started talking to Dominic (DiLalla, of Centennial Farms), and he had purchased the horse in January. There were no definite plans for me training the horse at that point, but I knew I liked the horse, so I mentioned to Dominic that if he was ever in a spot, and if he was trying to figure out what he was going to do with horse, I really like him and I'd love to train him. It turned out that I got to train all the Centennial horses starting this March.”

Bennett has no shortage of praise for Truebelieve.

“He's a horse that you just know he's good. He's smart. He's very much a horse that likes his routine. He liked being at the racetrack – he's all racehorse. But everything has to go his way in order to keep him happy. He's a serious horse. He looks the part, he's really well built, he has a great body, and he just has a great attitude about everything.”

Whether it all adds up to a Plate shocker like the 82-1 jaw-dropper T J's Lucky Moon and jockey Steven Bahen delivered in the 2002 running remains to be seen.

For the man who mapped out Truebelieve's date in the big dance, all of it is, quite literally, a dream come true.

“As a kid, I was a big Patrick Husbands fan and I remember that Plate in 2014 as if it were yesterday. That was the one that really stuck out for me. A filly winning it, I admired Mark Casse – it's one that I'll always remember.”

One that will now slot into the runner-up spot on Bennett's list of most memorable Queen's Plates.

“I think… it's not proof to other people, but proof to myself that I can do this. I started training when I was really young. There was doubt from a lot of other people, but also from myself, in that you can make a living being a trainer and get to bigger places and run in bigger races. It was almost a pipe dream at one point.”

Not anymore.

Two days ahead of the Queen's Plate post position draw and five days before the biggest day of his career, odds are Bennett will soon envision another dream.

“To be in this race, it really is a dream come true. To win it, that would be the ultimate.”

The post From Oak Bluff To The Queen’s Plate: Cole Bennett Is A Truebeliever appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Queen’s Plate Post Position Draw Will Be Livestreamed Sept. 9

Woodbine Entertainment has announced that the post position draw for the 161st running of the $1 million Queen's Plate, first jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, will be presented online via a live stream on Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10 a.m.   

Racing analyst Jason Portuondo will host the virtual production live from Woodbine Racetrack and will be joined by Jim Lawson, President and CEO of Woodbine Entertainment.  

The traditional Queen's Plate post position draw format will be conducted with a draw to decide the order in which connections will select their posts. Following physical distancing protocols, one representative for each horse will be present to make their post position selection and take part in a brief interview with Portuondo.  

 

Live streaming will be available on Woodbine's website at Woodbine.com and Facebook page.  

The field is starting to take shape with 16 probable contenders on target for this year's Queen's Plate, which was originally scheduled for June 27 prior to COVID-19 postponements and will now be contested on Saturday, Sept. 12.    

Clayton stamped himself as one of the early favourites for the million-dollar Canadian classic when he won the Plate Trial on August 15 at Woodbine, the traditional 1-1/8-mile prep, for trainer Kevin Attard. The Bodemeister-Smarthalf colt is three-for-four in his career and has earned just over $200,000 for owners Donato Lanni and Daniel Plouffe.   

A pair of fillies will be looking to tackle the boys in this year's edition, including the Kevin Attard-trained multiple stakes placed Merveilleux, who closed well through traffic to hit the board last time out in the Woodbine Oaks presented by Budweiser for owners Al and Bill Ulwelling.   

Oaks champion Curlin's Voyage wowed in winning the $500,000 first leg of the Triple Tiara and is now being pointed to the Plate by Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll, a two-time winner of the race who campaigned one of the three fillies in the past decade to achieve the Oaks-Plate double (Inglorious, 2011). 

Following her Sovereign Award-winning two-year-old campaign, Curlin's Voyage was a runner-up in the Star Shoot Stakes before earning back-to-back wins in the Fury Stakes and Oaks. The latter was an impressive 1-3/4 length victory over 1-1/8 miles and boosted her bankroll to nearly $665,000 for Hill 'n' Dale Holdings and Windsor Boys Racing. The Curlin-Atlantic Voyage filly now sports a career record reading 5-2-1 from nine starts.  

The winner's ledger for the Queen's Plate includes a total of 37 fillies, including nine since 1956 when the race was first run at the new Woodbine. 

Lawrence Cordes' Dramedy colt Mighty Heart is another probable starter from the Carroll barn.  

A close runner-up in the Plate Trial following his July 4 victory in the Queenston Stakes, Halo Again is a top contender for American Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, whose first attempt at the OLG Canadian Triple Crown last year awarded him two-thirds of the prize as Tone Broke won the Prince of Wales and Breeders' Stakes following a third-place finish in the opening leg.  

Halo Again, a son of Speightstown out of Halo's Verse, has won half of his six career starts while banking $287,732 for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing. 

He will attempt to become the first horse in 44 years (Norcliffe, 1976) to complete the Coronation Futurity and Queen's Plate double.  

Asmussen, who counts the famed Curlin among his list of stars, became the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs earlier this season and is approaching 9,000 career wins.  

Canadian Hall of Fame horseman Sid Attard will be vying for his first Queen's Plate victory with a pair of contenders, including Norseman Racing Stable's Dotted Line and JMJ Racing Stables' Olliemyboy. The former Signature Red-Springledge colt was a two-time juvenile stakes winner and mostly recently posted third-place finishes in both the Grade 3 Marine, finishing 4-1/4 lengths behind the Preakness-bound Shirl's Speight, and Plate Trial, just a half-length behind Clayton and Halo Again.   

Trained by two-time Queen's Plate-winning conditioner Daniel Vella, the lightly raced Conquest Curlinate gelding Sweepin Hard is expected to join the battle for top prize as a supplement following a maiden-breaking victory in mid-August over 1-1/8 miles on the main track for Borders Racing Stable. 

At age 26, up-and-coming trainer Santino DiPaola is looking forward to making his Queen's Plate debut with Enchant Me, a maiden Magician-Me Love colt owned by York Tech Racing Stable. 

Other probable starters include Famished, F F Rocket, Glorious Tribute, Golden Wave, Holyfield, Tecumseh's War and Truebelieve.  

Final entries are due through the entry box by 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9. 

While this year's event will not be open to the public, Woodbine welcomes fans to experience The Queen's Plate safely from home with family and friends in their bubble while tuning into The Queen's Plate @ Home digital experience via Instagram @WoodbineTB and live television broadcast starting at 4:30 p.m. ET on TSN and CTV. Post time for the afternoon's first race will be 12:30 p.m., with the main event scheduled as Race 10 at approximately 5:41 p.m.  

PROBABLE FIELD FOR THE 161ST RUNNING OF THE $1 MILLION QUEEN'S PLATE 

Horse – Trainer – Owner(s) 

Clayton – Kevin Attard – Donato Lanni & Daniel Plouffe                                                                     

Curlin's Voyage (filly) – Josie Carroll – Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings & Windsor Boys Racing 

Dotted Line – Sid Attard – Norseman Racing Stable 

Enchant Me – Santino DiPaola – York Tech Racing Stable 

Famished – John Kimmel – Tobey L. Morton 

F F Rocket – Keith Dickey – Frank Fletcher Racing Operations          

Glorious Tribute – Barbara Minshall – Bruce Lunsford 

Golden Wave – Michael De Paulo – Mickey Demers 

Halo Again – Steven Asmussen – Winchell Thoroughbreds & Willis Horton Racing 

Holyfield – Catherine Day Phillips – Kingfield Racing Stable, Roderick Ferguson & Anderson Farms Ontario 

Merveilleux (filly) – Kevin Attard – Al and Bill Ulwelling 

Mighty Heart – Josie Carroll – Lawrence Cordes 

Olliemyboy – Sid Attard – JMJ Racing Stables 

Sweepin Hard (supplement) – Daniel Vella – Borders Racing Stable 

Tecumseh's War – Catherine Day Phillips – Ilium Stables 

Truebelieve – Cole Bennett – Centennial Farms (Niagara)

The post Queen’s Plate Post Position Draw Will Be Livestreamed Sept. 9 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Saturday’s Racing Insights for Aug. 29

SPOTLIGHT ON RUNHAPPY BABY IN LOADED SARATOGA MAIDEN

6th-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:57 p.m. ET

HAPPYMAC (Runhappy), an $800,000 RNA at the OBS June Sale (:20 3/5), looks like the one to beat in this extremely deep baby race at the Spa. The half-brother to runaway GII Amsterdam S. winner and GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) fired a five-furlong bullet from the gate in :59 2/5 (1/12) at Saratoga Aug. 17. Happymac, drawn widest of all in post 10 for the Heiligbrodts and Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, previously brought $125,000 at KEEJAN and $360,000 at KEESEP as a yearling. He is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

After unleashing Reinvestment Risk (Upstart) to a jaw-dropping ‘TDN Rising Star’ performance earlier this meet, trainer Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables debut another son of the Airdrie Stud freshman sire in $600,000 OBS March (:21) graduate Founder (Upstart).

The rail-drawn Newbomb (Speightstown), a half-brother to the talented GSW & MGISP My Happy Face (Tiz Wonderful), debuts for Todd Pletcher. The $155,000 FTKOCT yearling has a pair of bullet workouts on the tab for this.

The field also includes $600,000 KEESEP graduate Charleston Strong (Flatter) and $375,000 KEESEP graduate Majestic Street (Street Sense), a half-brother to MGSW St. Joe Bay (Saint Anddan). TJCIS PPs

MILLION DOLLAR WAR FRONT KEESEP YEARLING DEBUTS

10th-SAR, $72K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 6:16 p.m. ET

Trainer Chad Brown will saddle a pair of promising youngsters here, including Shadwell Stable’s $1-million KEESEP yearling purchase ZAINALARAB (War Front). She is the first foal out of Delightful Joy (Tapit), heroine of the GIII Monmouth Oaks. Brown will also tighten the girth on Three Chimneys Farm homebred Always Carina (Malibu Moon), a half-sister to the Brown-trained unbeaten GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf hero Structor (Palace Malice). TJCIS PPs

PRICEY GHOSTZAPPER COLT MAKES SECOND START AT DEL MAR

6th-DMR, $55K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 7:40 p.m. ET

VITTORIO (Ghostzapper), a $750,000 OBS Spring purchase (bullet :9 4/5) by Kaleem Shah, looks to build off a better-than-it-looked fifth-place finish after a slow start and wide trip on debut going five furlongs Aug. 1 (Second Chances). The bay fired a four-furlong bullet in :47 (1/113) for trainer Simon Callaghan from the gate Aug. 16. TJCIS PPs

QUEEN’S PLATE WINNER RETURNS FROM LENGTHY LAYOFF

9th-DMR, $59K, OC62K, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 9:10 p.m. ET

Canadian Classic winner ONE BAD BOY (Twirling Candy), winner of last term’s Queen’s Plate S., makes his 4-year-old debut. The dark bay, trained by Richard Baltas, was last seen finishing third as the even-money favorite in the second leg of Canada’s Triple Crown in the Prince of Wales S. at Fort Erie last July. He has been working bullets for his return, and graduated impressively in his lone prior try on grass at Santa Anita last April. TJCIS PPs

The post Saturday’s Racing Insights for Aug. 29 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘The Good Old Days’: Barbara Minshall Looks Back At Her Triple Crown First

Barb Minshall wasn't chasing history on that picture-perfect summer day 25 years ago at Fort Erie Racetrack.

“It seems like yesterday,” started Minshall, from her home office in Mississauga, Ont. “It's just amazing to me. When you realize that it was 1995… you just say to yourself, 'Wow.' But I never thought about being the first one. Your first thought is always the same… win the race.”

Leading up to the 136th running of the Queen's Plate, there hadn't been much talk, as she recalled, that the Canadian classic could produce a first in its storied history: a female trainer winning the race.

“I was really just starting training horses back then, so I didn't really follow the statistics and historical information,” said the Montreal-born conditioner, who took over the reins of Minshall Farms when her husband Aubrey, a respected and successful horseman, died in 1993. “The availability of statistics back then wasn't anywhere near to what it is today, where it's nearly instantaneous. Back then, if you didn't go to the track that day, you wouldn't find out any interesting info. until you picked up the paper the next day. I didn't realize a female trainer had never won a Triple Crown race.”

Blessed with a pair of talented 3-year-olds, homebreds Kiridashi and Mt. Sassafras, the brown and beige silks of Minshall Farms were well represented when the Canadian Triple Crown series got out of the gates, in the Queen's Plate, on July 9, 1995 at Woodbine.

Her coupled entry went off as the 7-2 third choice, behind the favoured entry of All Firmed Up and Honky Tonk Tune, and second choice, 2-1 Langfuhr.

At the finish of the 1 ¼-mile Queen's Plate, it was Roger Attfield trainee Regal Discovery, ridden by Todd Kabel, who was crowned champion after a 1 ¼-length score at odds of 9-1.

Kiridashi, who led the 14-horse field until just after the mile mark, finished fourth. Mt. Sassafras rallied to be third.

“I thought both of them ran their hearts out,” remembered Minshall. “It just wasn't our day.”

Cue the rematch.

The Prince of Wales, second jewel in the historic Canadian Triple Crown, attracted six starters, a field that included Regal Discovery, Kiridashi, and Mt. Sassafras.

Three weeks removed from Regal Discovery's triumph in the “Gallop for the Guineas,” Minshall was hoping to turn the tables with her powerful one-two punch entry in the 1 3/16-mile main track Prince of Wales.

She wouldn't have traded places with anyone at Fort Erie on July 30, 1995.

“I do definitely remember thinking we could win it. We were really confident in both horses. Mt. Sassafras was more of a come-from-behind horse and Kiridashi was an extremely fast horse, a horse that could run the turns very quickly and make up all his ground on the turns. He was a typical 'catch-me-if-you-can' type. And if you wanted to go with him, you'd usually empty the tank, and if you let him loose, he got very brave on the lead. He was a very dangerous horse. So, we had both ends covered and we were really confident.”

Her pre-race conversation with jockey Larry Attard, aboard Kiridashi, lasted all of 10 seconds.

“I told Larry to go to the front and wire the field. If Mt. Sassafras runs you down, that's okay, but you're on your own.”

Seizing control early from the outside gate, Kiridashi, the handsome son of Bold Ruckus, made every call a winning one, besting runner-up Regal Discovery by two lengths.

“The pace was a kind of slow pace,” said Attard, moments after the race. “The half went 47 [seconds] and change and I said if I make a slow pace, I'm going to win the race. It came exactly like I thought.”

With Kabel once again in the irons, Regal Discovery made a three-wide move to the leader up the backstretch, but midway through the far turn, Kiridashi and Attard were doing precisely what Minshall envisioned.

They were playing catch-me-if-you-can to perfection.

“He [Kiridashi] was the lone speed in the race and he got to dictate everything his own way,” noted Kabel. “I couldn't get him [Regal Discovery] to relax.”

Attard said, “Every time he [Regal Discovery] came up to me I just kind of opened up a half a length, a length to him. I know I got the horse.”

Mt. Sassafras finished third, a nose back of second spot.

“When Kiridashi had the lead turning for home and you knew he wasn't going to get headed, I had a really good feeling,” she recalled. “That's how he won most of his races. If he got that lead down the backside and he wasn't being challenged turning for home, it would have taken something else to try and run him down because he wouldn't let them go by him.”

With the win, Minshall, a former member of the Canadian Olympic equestrian team, had secured a spot in the record books as the first female trainer to win a Triple Crown race, in Canada or the U.S.

Recollections of Kiridashi's wire-to-wire tour de force at Fort Erie still bring a smile to Minshall's face.

“It's scary how time goes by so fast, but you keep hoping to find those good ones again. To be in horse racing, you absolutely need to love horses and being around them. For me, nothing is more rewarding than seeing young horses develop and do well down the road.”

Just like Kiridashi and Mt. Sassafras did.

In 44 starts, Kiridashi won 14 times, adding nine seconds and eight thirds, along with earnings of $1.2 million (U.S.). At four, he won the Grade 3 King Edward Breeders' Cup Handicap, the Fair Play and Heresy, all at Woodbine. One year later, he took the Grade 3 Connaught Cup, Vigil, and Jacques Cartier.

His final race was a fifth in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, on September 21, 1998.

“Kiridashi was the studdiest horse to be around. I think it's why that when he shipped, he didn't run very well. He was so studdy. Nowadays, I probably would have gelded him. But when a horse is running so well like he did, it's tough to consider that option. He was a kind horse in the stall, but once you got on his back, he was very aggressive – just a very sound horse and easy to train. He was a strong galloper, but very straightforward.”

Mt. Sassafras, a son of Mt. Livermore, won eight times from 47 starts. He also added seven runner-up finishes, and 14 third-place efforts, to go with $1.38 million (U.S.) in earnings.

The chestnut delivered Canadians a big thrill in the 1996 Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine when he had the lead in deep in the stretch before finishing fourth at 101-1. A length separated him from Alphabet Soup, Louis Quatorze and Cigar.

That winter, Mt. Sassafras defeated Eclipse Award champion Skip Away at Gulfstream in the Donn Handicap.

“He was way more sensitive than Kiridashi. You had to make sure he ate. He was way more high-strung than Kiridashi. But he was extremely durable for a small, slight-framed horse. We got to travel to many big stake races all over the U.S. He ran in eight Grade 1 races and he won a Grade 1, $500,000 U.S. race, defeating good horses like Skip Away, Tejano Run and Suave Prospect.When I think of Mt. Sassafras, I think 'Grade 1,' – very talented and also unlucky. He really could have won several other races as well.”

Mt. Sassafras did, however, greatly contribute to Minshall Farms' banner 1996 season, culminating in five Sovereign awards, including Canada's horse of the year, champion older horse, top owner, and breeder honours.

The other trophy, for top trainer, represented another first.

“To win the Sovereign was another huge thrill,” said Minshall, the first woman to win it. “Hearing Mt. Sassafras' name called out as horse of the year and top older horse is something you'll never forget.”

She no doubt hasn't.

Minshall Farms, dispersed a few years after the impressive trophy haul, didn't spell the end of Minshall's training career.

Multiple stakes winners like Bold Ruritana, Stephanotis, Strut the Course and Stacked Deck have provided her with memorable triumphs over the years.

Their pictures, and many others, hang alongside the ones of Kiridashi and Mt. Sassafras, in Minshall's home office, happy reminders of treasured victories, past and present.

“You just smile… the good old days. And that day at Fort Erie, it was a really good one. I wasn't trying to put my name the history books that day. You just wanted to win the race.”

Kiridashi managed to deliver both.

The post ‘The Good Old Days’: Barbara Minshall Looks Back At Her Triple Crown First appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights