Handicapping the Queen's plate Stakes with Jim Bannon

 On the day before the Queen's Plate Day at woodbine Racetrack, I found myself exhausted sitting in my car with my cell phone and notepad thinking of my next moves before calling it quits for the day.  It felt extremely hot on this so I poured another glass of cold water and sat back waiting for a sign to show itself.

Suddenly my phone rang with the vibration of the ringer buzzing me on the leg through the front pocket of my slacks.  I recognized the name on the phone and it was Jim Bannon calling.

Jim Bannon is a famous handicapper who is known for his in-depth knowledge and information about horses and their running styles within the thoroughbred world. 

https://bannonthoroughbred.com/about-jim

After exchanging a few pleasantries we got down to the real reason for the call and that was handicapping the Queen's Plate.

We both agreed that we liked the filly Moira and horses using the same path that Moira took to the Queen's Plate usually can do well.  We didn't agree on my pick The Minkster simply because Jim uses a formula he had created many years ago when handicapping the Queen's Plate Stakes and had ruled out the Minkster.  Jim thinks the Minkster is more suited for the grass but by the connections taking this path to the Queen's Plate last year, there is no turning back now for him.

I was curious about Jim's Thoughts about Rondure and the amount of attention that the horse is receiving at the moment.  We agreed that the horse has looked good leading up to the Queen's Plate but Jim was slightly skeptical of the connections' decision to skip past the Queen's Plate Trial Stakes.  I had never thought of that and I had just thought that they wanted a fresh horse on Queen's Plate Day.  I quizzed him also about Rondure's jockey Flavien Prat who will be flying in just to ride this race.  Jim didn't pay much attention to that.

So we went through different scenarios about the race and I asked Jim Bluntly who he liked.

Jim Thinks the best horse for this race will be Sir For Sure after winning the Queen's Plate Trial Stakes.

I had to agree with Jim this time about Sir For Sure being his top pick even though my top pick the Minkster holds a special spot within me.

It was nice speaking with Jim Bannon again and just hearing his voice just as he had done for several years on television.

You can see more about Jim and what he has been up to by clicking the link below or by copy-pasting the link.

https://bannonthoroughbred.com/about-jim

Flavien Prat vs the colony at Woodbine

Being the target isn't something new to Flavien Prat as he ships into Woodbine racetrack to ride one of the favored horses for the Queen's plate.  

Flavien Prat will be riding the Katerina Vassileva trainee Rondure who was so impressive earlier this summer that he was named one of the horses to beat for the Queen's Plate Stakes.  Prat who has had over 6375 career mounts and 1372 victories in North America will be looking to collect his second Queen's Plate victory with trainer Katerina Vassileva and the late impressive colt Rondure.  

Speaking with some of the behind-the-scenes workers at Woodbine, they had this to say "Rondure is a good horse and the jockey is ok, shipping in here at woodbine he still has to deal with our jockeys and what this race means to them".

It won't be the first time Prat will be amongst the semi-hostile company, with his recent being named the winner of the 2019 Kentucky derby aboard Country House at odds of 65-1 after Maximum Security was disqualified from winning the race.  It's safe to say that Prat has a knack for being in the right places at the right time.

Prat has been aboard many good horses and has collected the trophies left right and center across North America but the colony still holds strong at woodbine with eyes on the prize and a chance to be chalked in history amongst the winners of the prestigious trophy of the Queen's Plate.  

Rondure should be fresh on Sunday after being away since July 2nd after winning the Grade 3 Marine Stakes with Rafael Manuel Hernandez in the saddle but there are still many talented horses in this race and some very good jockeys to beat.

On the Hunt for a Queen's Plate Stake victory

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.

The beauty of horse racing and the animal behind it.

As an observer of the sport and the industry of horse racing, several things stand out to me.

The money very rarely changes hands and the players involved are usually passionate or condemned to looking after the horses for life.  It truly is a unique business and it is an intentional way of life for persons involved with the horses.

First, you have to love animals or have been around them for several years caring for them or just helping a relative who owns animals.  If you just ask the successful people in the business about their story and how they managed to gain their success, they may not be so quick to tell you the full details and perhaps leave you with the shiny parts of their story.  In order to get that nugget of a horse, you have to give it a few tries first when breeding and hope that you produce a winner of a horse by good bloodlines or sometimes just sheer luck.

Having good farms that will help care for your horse is essential because let's face it, not everyone in the industry owns or will own a farm.  So what makes a good farm and what are some of the successes surrounding these farms that look after your horses?  In horse racing, every handicapper goes back to the racing form to see how the horse that they decide to gamble on has run in the past.  I will only assume that horse owners do the same when it comes to their horses and where they are staying when they are not training for races at the track.  So the question still remains, what makes a good farm?

What are these farms doing that will keep your horses sound and healthy and keeps you coming back year after year?  The farms will become the nurturers to the horses when they are not training on track so what makes them special?  Do your research or have someone you trust to do the research for you until you are satisfied with your choice.

You can own a horse or you can house a horse, both will keep your finances on cardiac watch. 

Cheap horses are not supposed to keep with the sport of Kings.  You are almost supposed to be lucky to have them for a short while and then pass them on to the next lower-level person within the industry who is willing to take a chance with them.  There was a time when I thought that the most successful horses ate much more than the other horses in the barn but obviously I was quite wrong and they all eat a lot unless they are sick.

The horses aren't guaranteed to run really fast but they are definitely guaranteed to eat lots and lots every day once they are healthy and alive.  So in the horse racing world, we praise our equine stars and legends and that helps keep their bloodlines separated from the ones on the lower end which increases business for the owners of the stars.  Many others will dream of emulating this system with a lower-end horse but the common denominator remains the same and that is the feeding of the animal without a sound result to show from its past performance and you could find yourself with a very expensive pet.

Horse racing still is and will remain a beautiful sport driven by its equine stars.  The industry which has formed around these animals will have to improve because many other industries have improved, expanded, and seen some success.  So hats off to those who vigorously are trying to get others involved and who are constantly finding ways to bring the younger generation into the sport and the men and women who work daily to keep all these horses sound and healthy and get them to the track.

Kawacatoose Meets A Tough Field In An Allowance Optional Claimer

 At this point of the season, the connections to the gelding Kawacatoose are feeling quite happy with the results.  The horse was bred by Joey Gee Thoroughbreds and sold to Devon Boreland for $2,255 as a yearling back in 2019.

The veterans in the game say it takes time and money to get a good horse going but in this case, it was courage. 

Back on November 08, 2020,  Kawacatoose ran his first race and was defeated, finishing seventh in the field.  He went on to run another three races before breaking his maiden and cashing in and paying w$22.50 p$8.80 s$7.10 on September 5th, 2021.  When I last spoke to Robert Boreland who is the owner in partnership with his son Canadian soccer star Cyle Larin, he was all smiling.

The horse has done well he has made papa and son proud and has turned some heads at this level.  He is a speedy type who will have to face some very tough ones in this race today under the piloting of veteran jockey Steven Bahen who will be no stranger to this horse and his running style.  Kawacatoose is expected to be somewhere close to the lead based on his running performance history and with the latest speed figures he is still as tough as they get amongst his rivals.

He has made $110,315 for the year already winning three out of four starts and is mentioned in the top 5 performers at Woodbine so far for this year.  It's an honest horse, he has done well and is looking for more.

Race 7 on today's card goes at 7:52pm at Woodbine racetrack.

Troy JR Hearn Is On The Come Back Trail And Is Hungrier Than Ever.

As the evening was winding down at the backstretch I remember meeting Troy for the very first time.  He looked like a jockey but I didn't recognize him.   I said hi, how are you doing with my Bajan Canadian accent mixed up into one. Troy said hi and we exchanged greetings with our names attached. I recognized from early that Troy wasn't shy and he had the look of a man shaping his body to a high result of fitness expressed with Tattoos all over his body.   He reached for his black sweat bag-looking gear that hung from the clothesline which he used to drain the sweat from his body when jogging.  

I said to him I was looking for a story and he replied " well I got one for ya"!  The rest is history leading up to this point which you will soon find out. Sometimes I am cautious but I am mostly curious and it's my curiosity that very often leads me to interesting people, places, and things throughout my life.  

For the next several days I ran into Troy as he continued to work and he would often utter the phrase "work hard".  I can see the hunger spelled all over his face by the look in his eyes and not by the chiseled cut face as some of you may be thinking when you see him.

You will see more on him but for now, you can check out his efforts right here.

www.facebook.com/Troyfernandesallin