Sunday 4 September 2022

Surprise! It's A girl who wins the Queen's Plate!

 Actually, the buzz horse that was being talked about was the Kevin Attard filly Moira and her ability to blow the field away, so she did just that.

Top horses are meant to be beaten and there was no change to that theory if you liked my top pick for the Queen's Plate The Minkster who finished a distant 9th in the field.  Plate trial winner Sir For Sure finished third with a very good run at the end with Hall of Dreams ridden by jockey Patrick Husbands in second.

When I handicapped the race the day before the Queen's Plate with Jim Bannon who is known for his expert handicapping ability.  He wasn't too concerned about the upstart horse Rondure with shipped-in jockey Flavien Pratt and he had settled on the Plate Trial winner Sir for Sure as the top pick who went on to finish third.

Leading up to the race as I searched the Woodbine grounds for people with different opinions on who was going to win the race.  I couldn't help but notice the number of females who were very excited about Moira winning the race.  I tried to let my brain take me to where perhaps they may have heard about Moira and who was pointing them to this amazing horse as it now turns out.

Women at the track were asking my opinion on who they should cheer for and they wanted to hear more about the new buzz horse Moira who was going to beat the boys.  It was that simple for them, beat the boys!   I couldn't tell them much at the time but I was able to point them to my YouTube channel in order to hear what Rankin had to say about the filly.  


The track itself was awesome as usual with live music and DJs spinning music all day long.  It took me back to many years ago when I just wanted to be amongst the many people who attended these events.  I admired the horsemen and women who dressed for the occasion and those who took time out of their busy lives to just unwind with the event and all the media around them.  This is a big deal for the people who work tirelessly at Woodbine backstretch to make this day happen with the horses.  They don't always get to enjoy the event like others do because the horses need lots of attention and especially if there is more than one horse on the card to look after.

The crowd lets always let everyone know who their favorite jockeys are when the horses are coming down the stretch.  The sound of cheers is like no other when the pack turns for home.

Coincidentally, the very last race of the day was won by jockey Keveh Nicholls on Cliff's Head and trained by Amber Mayers. Girl power all day long, what a day!