2018 Queen’s Plate one-liners

Canada’s signature classic, and North America’s oldest continuously run race, Saturday’s C$1 million Queen’s Plate features a field of 16.

Let’s boil it down one-liner style:

#1 Boyhood Dream, fourth with no pace help in the Plate Trial, must improve markedly to factor.

#2 Cooler Mike just nicked an allowance in first blinkers but has something to find on juvenile stakes form.

#3 Inge, handed the front-running victory via disqualification in the Wando, doesn’t inspire after fading to fifth in the Marine (G3).

#4 Strike Me Down, a lightly raced Sam-Son homebred son of Tapit and Strike Softly, has upset potential on the step up in trip for Graham Motion and new rider Jose Ortiz.

#5 Silent Poet, a well-related Stronach homebred, faces a stiff task in his stakes debut and first try beyond seven furlongs.

#6 Real Dude, a twice-raced maiden, has yet to run up to his pedigree as a son of Stronach stars Ghostzapper and Ginger Brew.

#7 Dixie Moon, who beat the boys in last fall’s Cup and Saucer, now seeks the Woodbine Oaks/Queen’s Plate double.

#8 Alternative Route exits a fourth in the Arlington Classic (G3) on turf but scored in his only try on synthetic in Turfway Park’s Rushaway.

#9 Say the Word, on paper the secondary hope for Sam-Son and Motion, looked a different animal in his only attempt over a longer distance.

#10 Telekinesis, mugged by the streetwise My Boy Jack in the Lexington (G3), solidified favoritism as the controlling speed in the Plate Trial and aims to take another step forward.

#11 Wonder Gadot, just denied by Monomoy Girl in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and by Dixie Moon in the Woodbine Oaks, adds blinkers and reunites with John Velazquez.

#12 Pawnbroker is ambitiously spotted off a fourth in his six-furlong debut.

#13 Marriage Counselor, like Pawnbroker and Boyhood Dream a Ramsey runner from the Mike Maker barn, has a win at the distance but in a $25,000 maiden claimer on turf.

#14 Neepawa, although Mark Casse’s third-stringer behind Telekinesis and Wonder Gadot, can’t be discounted as a Scat Daddy colt with creditable stakes efforts and Florent Geroux.

#15 Aheadbyacentury, third in both the Plate Trial and Marine, returns to blinkers in hopes of becoming the first Coronation Futurity winner since Norcliffe to add the Queen’s Plate (1976).

#16 Rose’s Vision, runner-up in the Plate Trial after having to press Telekinesis early, projects a more advantageous trip with new rider Javier Castellano.

Much more detailed analysis is available in the free Queen’s Plate betting guide. Enjoy the Gallop for the Guineas!