The lone filly in this year's Queen's Plate Stakes at Woodbine, Inglorious, used a powerful late kick to blow by field at the top of the stretch to easily win the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. Inglorious sat towards the middle of the main pack through the open six furlongs, content to allow pacesetters Curgone and Oh Canada do the dirty work on the front-end. Moving towards the front of the field around the mile mark, Inglorious and jockey Luis Contreras found themselves in perfect position for the final drive to the wire, sitting in the six or seven spot. The filly had plenty left in the tank to easily dispatch her rivals inside the final quarter mile, running a final split in a lightning fast 24.50 seconds. No other horse in the field ran the final quarter in under :25.
Inglorious, a three-year-old filly by Hennessy out of a Smart Strike mare (Noble Strike), is trained by Josie Carroll and paid $11.00 for the win. Place horse Hippolytus (sent off at odds of 61/1) keyed a $415.20 Exacta (or Exator, if you will) for $2. The $1 Super came back at $22,375.35.
Queen's Plate Replay (via Woodbine)
Below is a summary of the results of some of this weekend's stakes action:
| Race | Track | Winner | Age/Sex | Dist (Surf) | Time |
| Queen's Plate | WO | Inglorious | 3yo | 10.0 (S) | 2:02.63 |
| G1-Mother Goose | BEL | Buster's Ready | 3yo, f | 8.5 (D) | 1:42.44 |
| G2-Highlander | WO | Signature Red | 3up | 6.0 (T) | 1:09.00 |
| G2-Hollywood Oaks | HOL | Zazu | 3yo, f | 8.5 (S) | 1:43.36 |
| G2-King Edward | WO | Court of the Realm | 3up | 8.0 (T) | 1:35.86 |
| G2-New York | BEL | Giants Play | 3up, f&m | 10.0 (T) | 2:04.76 |
| G3-Beverly Hilly | HOL | Malibu Pier | 3up, f&m | 10.0 (T) | 2:01.01 |
| G3-Boiling Springs | MTH | Summer Soiree | 3yo, f | 8.5 (T) | 1:42.89 |
| G3-Cornhusker | PRM | Headache | 3up | 9.0 (D) | 1:47.83 |
| G3-Debutante | CD | Flashy Lassie | 2yo, f | 6.0 (D) | 1:10.89 |
| G3-Iowa Derby | PRM | Prayer for Relief | 3yo | 8.5 (D) | 1:41.73 |
| G3-Iowa Oaks | PRM | Little Miss Holly | 3yo, f | 8.5 (D) | 1:43.66 |
| G3-Singspiel | WO | Musketier (GER) | 3up | 12.0 (T) | 2:29.54 |
| Iowa Distaff | PRM | Freedom Star | 3up, f&m | 8.5 (D) | 1:42.93 |
| Iowa Sprint | PRM | Ducky Drake | 3up | 6.0 (D) | 1:08.54 |
| Saylorville | PRM | Beat the Blues | 3up, f&m | 6.0 (D) | 1:09.46 |
- The lone Grade 1 race on the weekend was easily won by Buster's Ready in the Mother Goose at Belmont. Odds on favorite Joyful Victory really doesn't have any excuses for her performance; she was close enough to the front and the splits in the early part were honest (especially for just a six horse field that had one of the pacemakers (Alseera) bolted in the early stages and had to be pulled up by Alan Garcia.
- Prayer for Relief posted a mild upset in Saturday night's Iowa Derby, beating place horse Sherriff Cogburn by two lengths at the wire. The win by Prayer for Relief continues a trend of the three-year-old stakes races being won by anybody but the favorite, as odds-on favorite Astrology was no where to be found for this one, finishing an nonthreatening 6th. That certainly doesn't reflect well on the Preakness, although Astrology seemed eligible for a bounce given that his performance at Pimlico was much better than anything we've seen from him before.
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Little Miss Holly upset the heavily favored Daisy Devine (1/2) in the Iowa Oaks. Like Astrology in the Derby, Daisy Devine has little excuses for such a poor performance other than she just wasn't good enough that night.
- I spent Sunday afternoon out at Emerald where two horses were DQ'd during the card...both of which I had in some form of another. One cost me a minor Pick 3. Fortunately, both DQs were absolutely the right call, which makes it somewhat easier to take. But not much.
After a couple days of small carryovers, the Emerald $0.50 Pick 5 finally paid out on Sunday when a winning ticket generated a $1,500.10 return. The winning horses in the sequence went off at 9/2, 3/1, 2/1, 5/2, and 7/2. - There was a lot of good racing across the Atlantic this weekend, beginning with the Irish Derby at the Curragh in Ireland, and continuing in France.
In Ireland, Treasure Beach (GB) added legitimacy to his 2nd place finish in the Epsom Derby by beating Seville (GER), Memphis Tennesse (IRE) and Carlton House at the wire. The top three finishers in the Irish Derby were all trained by Aidan O'Brien.
In France, filly Sarafina (FR) beat Cirrus Des Aigles (FR) by a neck to win the G1-Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and, in the process, stakes her claim as a top contender for the Arc this fall.
Cirrus Des Aigles finished second to Goldikova (IRE) in the G1-Prix d'Ispahan and won the G3-La Coupe in his prior two races. - Below is a results summary of international stakes races this past weekend:
Race Track Winner Going Dist (Surf) Time G1-Classic San Isidro (ARG) Star Runner Heavy 10 2:04.74 G1-Distaff San Isidro (ARG) Jumbalaya Heavy 10 2:06.88 G1-Grand Prix Saint-Cloud Sarafina Gd to Sft 12 2:34.40 G1-Irish Derby Curragh Treasure Beach Good 12 2:33.26 G1-Juvenile San Isidro (ARG) Suggestive Boy Heavy 8 1:38.37 G1-Juvenile Fillies San Isidro (ARG) Gamuza Fina Heavy 8 1:38.92 G1-Mile San Isidro (ARG) Cafrune Heavy 8 1:38.70 G1-Peru Derby Monterrico (PER) Interoceanico Synthetic 12 2:34.80 G1-Alberto Vial I
Santiago (CHI) Omayad Good 8 1:34.25 G1-TanteodePotrillos Chile Il Veneziano Muddy (Dirt) 7.5 1:29.91 G1-Pretty Polly Curragh Misty For Me Yld to Sft 10 2:13.37 G1-Sprint San Isidro (ARG) Evo Emperor Heavy 5 :58.88 G1-Takarazuka Kinen Hanshin (JPN) Earnestly Firm 11 2:10.10 G1-Winter Stakes Eagle Farm (AUS) Yosei Good 7 1:22.20 G2-ChipchaseStakes Newcastle Genki Gd to Sft 6 1:13.76 G2-Grande Premo CidadeJardim(BRZ) Heath Row Slow (Dirt) 8 1:35.92 G2-Hamburg-Hansa-Pries Hamburg Lucas Cranach Good 12 2:29.22 G2-Premio America Monterrico (PER) Alado Synthetic 5 :57.60 G2-Premio Mario Incisa Della Rochetta San Siro (ITY) Navarra Queen Good 10 1:59.20 G2-Premio OSAF Monterrico (PER) Golden Rock Synthetic 8 1:39.60 G2-Prix de Malleret Saint-Cloud Testosterone Gd to Sft 12 2:28.60 G2-Railway Stakes Curragh Lilboourne Lad Good 6 1:13.56 G3-Curragh Cup Curragh Red Cadeau Yld to Sft 14 3:05.82 G3-Grangeon Stud Curragh Experience Yld to Sft 6 1:12.36 G3-Hamburger Meile Hamburg Alianthus Good 8 1:34.88 G3-Healy Stakes Eagle Farm(AUS) Pinwheel Good 6 1:09.54 G3-Pedro Garcia Miro Monterrico(PER) Querubin Good 9 1:59.40 G3-Sapphire Stakes Curragh Invincible Ash Good 5 1:00.13 G3-Sunley Memorial Newmarket(July) Libranno Gd to Sft 7 1:23.56 G3-Tattersall's Cup Eagle Farm(AUS) Ironstein Good 11 2:15.41