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 2001 Queen's Plate winner Dancethruthedawn with Gary Boulanger up being lead by owner Tammy Samuel-Balaz of Sam-Son Farm. |
Updated: 6/18/02
Now that the American Triple Crown is over, the Canadian Triple Crown is just getting started. This year marks the 143rd running of the Queen's Plate, Canada's premier race for 3 year olds at a mile and a quarter with a purse of $1,000,000 Canadian. This race is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown with the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie and the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine comprising the other two legs.
The race is known as the "gallop for the guineas" as the purse also includes an extra 50 Guineas to the winner (about $108) in the form of a draft from the Royal Privy Purse which is presented by the Queen's representative at the race. Minting of guineas was discontinued in England during the reign of George III whose forebear, George I, had instituted the gift of 50 guineas in racing, a tradition that remains though the guineas do not. This year the Queen's representative will be Their Royal Highnesses Prince & Princess Michael of Kent. He is Queen Elizabeth's first cousin and was 8th in line for the throne when he was born, although he had to give that up when he married his wife who is Catholic.
Despite the race being restricted to Canadian breds, some very nice horses have won in the past including Northern Dancer, Kennedy Road, With Approval, Izvestia, Dance Smartly, and Awesome Again. In 2000 the race was won by Scatter the Gold, a 3/4 sibling to that year's Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus. In 2001, Scatter the Gold's full sister Dancethruthedawn won not only the Labatt Woodbine Oaks but went on to beat the boys and take the Queen's Plate as well.
The name of the race is a bit of a misnomer since the trophy isn't even a plate but a gold cup about a foot high with a beaver on top. King Charles II began awarding silver plates as racing prizes in the seventeenth century, but as variety was sought in the prizes, other pieces of silver and eventually other metals were used.
The Queen's Plate trophy
The Contenders
| Horse | Trainer | Dosage |
| Adjalah | David Bell | 3.00 |
| Anglian Prince | James Hardy | 3.80 |
| Barbeau Ruckus | Armata Ross | 2.20 |
| Bravely | Catherine Day-Phillips | 7.00 |
| Classic Mike | Reade Baker | 4.00 |
| Cree Power | Michael Doyle | 3.80 |
| Ford Every Stream | Mark Frostad | 3.00 |
| Forever Grand | Bob Tiller | 3.44 |
| Fuzzy Star | Mike Petro | 3.00 |
| Mountain Beacon | Mark Frostad | 2.60 |
| Shaws Creek | John Ross | 1.80 |
| Streakin Rob | James Day | 5.67 |
| T J's Lucky Moon | Vito Armata | 3.00 |
| Twice Bid | Roger Attfield | 3.00 |
Queen's Plate info online:
- Woodbine main page
- Woodbine's special Queen's Plate page
- Woodbine Stable Notes - mostly Queen's Plate info now and updated frequently
- Queen's Plate Winners 1860-2001
- 2001 Results - the winner was Dancethruthedawn
- 2000 Results - the winner was Scatter the Gold
- 1999 Results - the winner was Woodcarver
- Live Audio/Video from Woodbine
- SLAM! Horse Racing - Canadian horse racing news
- WayMoreSports.com Horse Racing - more Canadian racing news
- TSN Horse Racing - more Canadian racing news
- News Index Search - articles from the various online news sources
Photos ©2002 Cindy Pierson Dulay, licensed to About
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