In the fastest Queen’s Plate in 30 years, 13-1 long shot Mighty Heart raced gate-to-wire to capture the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
The one-eyed son of Dramedy completed the mile-and-a-quarter trek over the Woodbine Tapeta in 2:01.98, the fastest since Triple Crown winner Izvestia who ran it in 2:01.80 in 1990.
Jockey Daisuke Fukumoto captured his first Plate victory on his first Plate mount of his career shooting his colt to the lead at the onset and never looked back. Not many jockeys can say that their third career stakes win was in a $1 million race, but the 22-year-old rider put the bay colt in front to stay.
Canadian Hall of Fame trainer Josie Carroll captured her third Queen’s Plate. She previously won in 2011 with the filly Inglorious and in 2006 with Edenwold. Her colts completed a $730.40 exacta when 26-1 Belichick closed late to finish second.
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Rescheduled from June 27, the race was moved to September and run without fans for the first time in its 161 year history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mighty Heart returned $28.50 to his backers for the win, $13.80 to place and $8.20 to show. Belichick returned $20.90 to place and $12.10 to show for Carroll. Morning line favorite Clayton paid $4.20 for his third place finish and complete a $1 trifecta that paid $1,878.70. Tecumseh’s War finished fourth to round out the superfecta.
The winner, bred and owned by Lawrence Cordes, lost an eye in a paddock accident as a foal and struggled in his first two races dealing with the handicap at the Fair Grounds in Louisiana.
“This horse started to come to head once he came up north to Woodbine, his first two starts south of the border he was very, very green,” said Carroll. “He had some difficulties (with the eye) navigating some very tight turns down there. Once he came up here getting on this bigger track he seemed to be handling things so much better, I was pretty confident he’d run a good race when he came up here.”
After the two disappointing races in the U.S., he broke his maiden in July and stepped up against winners but raced wide to finish third behind Tecumseh’s War, but Carroll noticed that he was gaining confidence and blossoming into a Queen’s Plate contender.
She spent time with him in the morning getting him used to taking dirt in the face, like he did in Louisiana, to get used to it. On Saturday, he came off the track as the cleanest horse, not having to worry about dirt in his face, leading from the start.
“He’s such an exciting horse who has come a long way,” said Carroll. “Mr. Cordes has had a lot of confidence in him right from the start.”
Fukumoto had Mighty Heart set some solid early fractions, the quarter in 23.57 and the half in 47.61, setting the pace in front of Tecumseh’s War and Truebelieve.
Morning line favorite Clayton tracked the pace and looked to be settling into a perfect trip and came alongside the leader at the top of the stretch, but just couldn’t muster enough to get by. Fukumoto found another gear at the eighth pole and surged ahead to win by a commanding 7 1/2-lengths.
“He was sharp today,” said Fukumoto. “I trusted him and he just kept going. After the wire, he still kept going, he didn’t stop there. He’s got a mighty heart, you know.”
Post time favorite and Woodbine Oaks winner Curlin’s Voyage made a big move along the far turn, but the filly flattened out in the stretch and lost a photo for fourth. Going into the race, the filly was Carroll’s most likely winner, but her two long shots finished stronger.
The lightly raced Belichick, a son of Lemon Drop Kid, did his best impression of his Belmont winning sire, closing into the fast fractions late to earn second-place honors in just his third career start.
Unraced as a 2-year-old, Belichick’s first two races in 2020 produced unfocused efforts, but his workouts in recent weeks were suggesting that he was starting to round into form. The added distance made a difference for the bay colt who surged in the final furlong past the highly regarded Clayton.
The last Canadian Triple Crown winner was Wando in 2003, the seventh since its inception in 1959.
Next up is the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Race Track on Tuesday Sept. 29, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown. Run on traditional dirt, 17 days after a Plate winning effort by Mighty Heart, could be asking too much of the young colt, his connections yet to make a decision on the race.
Gene Kershner, a Buffalo-based turf writer, is a member of the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters Association, and tweets @EquiSpace.