It’s his second time joining the hat dance where tradition exceeds most and every trainer at the woodbine racetrack knows, they would love to have a chance of winning the queens plate stake.
For trainers on the backstretch who haven’t chalked their name in history as a Queen's Plate winner as yet, this is a big moment for them and can be nerve-wracking.
I had a keen eye on one horse in particular and its journey so far to get to the Queen's plate. The horse has an interesting name and it sounds particularly like a name that could get your attention also. Hunt Master has six starts under his belt and has managed so far to hit the board all six times, doing it all at the woodbine track. He won't be the favorite based on his performance and earnings to this point but he is a horse that has my attention.
I had the opportunity to speak with the Hunt Master's trainer Angus Buntain and he was pumped and ready for the big day on August 21st.
I asked Angus a few questions about the horse and how he got his name the Hunt Master.
Angus: His owner Susan Rasmussen who is a hunt master in the Hunter Jumper horse world named the horse based on her involvement with the sport.
I also asked him if this was his first Queen's Plate in which he had a horse in the race and he confirmed that it was his second time in the race. His first time entering the race was back in 2019 with a horse called Krachenwagen who is the son of the famous horse named Head Chopper, Krachenwagen ended up finishing 10 out of 14 on that day.
The talented colt Rondure who is trained by Katerina Vassiliva and Moira who is a filly trained by Kevin Attard is shaping up to be the two favorites for the Queen's plate. Angus hopes that his horse will have a late kick and will be closing down on the field as the finish line comes up in that long mile and a quarter race on August 21st.