TORONTO — Holy Helena made a very compelling case Sunday to take a shot at the $1-million Queen's Plate.
The Stronach Stables filly posted an impressive win in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks at Woodbine Racetrack. In fact, Holy Helena posted a better time than 20/1 longshot Guy Caballero did in capturing the $125,000 Plate Trial earlier on Sunday's card.
Both races were over 1 1/8 miles on Woodbine's Tapeta track.
"If she comes out all right we might think about it," said winning owner Frank Stronach. "The key for us will be how she behaves over the next three days.
"We'll take a look."
The Queen's Plate, the first jewel of Canada's Triple Crown and the country's most prestigious horse race, will cover 1 1/4 miles July 2 at Woodbine. The last filly to win the event was Lexie Lou in 2014 after she captured the Oaks, the opening event of the Canadian Triple Tiara.
Lexie Lou went on to become Canada's top horse that year.
Jockey Luis Contreras had Holy Helena sitting third on the final turn behind Enstone and Mythical Mission. But coming home, Holy Helena was running so strong and confidently that the only question was what her winning margin would be.
"The filly really helped me," Contreras said. "When we went outside, she gave me everything she had."
Holy Helena, a 6-1 shot, finished a length ahead of Mythical Mission, another 6-1 choice. Inflexibility, the 5/2 favourite, took third in the 12-horse field in a photo finish with Enstone.
Holy Helena paid $14, $7.10 and $4.90. Mythical Mission returned $8 and $4.60 while Inflexibility paid $3.60.
Holy Helena has two wins and a second-place finish in her three career outings, all coming this year. While Stronach was non-commital regarding the Plate, Mythical Mission's trainer Malcolm Pierce said his horse definitely won't be running in the race.
"We're not even nominated (for Plate)," he said. "I think the Plate picture just got more muddled today with the Plate Trial being won by a 20-1 shot.
"If we run anybody in the Plate, it would be Malibu Secret."
Guy Caballero came on in the deep stretch to earn the stunning Plate Trial win. Jockey Rafael Hernandez rallied his horse to overtake even-money favourite State of Honor and earn a half-length win in 1:51.32.
"In the turn I made sure he got a clear trip and then give everything he can in the stretch," Hernandez said. "He showed up today.
"He's always going to finish hard and he tries all the time. A good horse."
King and His Court was second in the six-horse field, followed by State of Honor in the Queen's Plate prep event.
"He'd been training well but he'd not run recently against this type of horses," said winning trainer Catherine Day Phillips. "I was confident he'd run a good race but I wasn't sure how he's stack up.
Day Phillips admitted there are concerns about the Plate distance.
"There's always a question," she said. "The way he relaxes, I think he has a good shot to make the mile and a quarter."
Guy Caballero is named after the fictional character on the television series SCTV played by Joe Flaherty. The three-year-old now has two wins in six career starts — along with second- and third-place finishes.
State of Honor took the lead at the start and held it coming off the final turn. But he couldn't fend off the hard-charging Guy Caballero from the far outside, then saw King and His Court come up on the inside to steal second.
State of Honor was the No. 3 Winterbook pick for the Plate at 6-1. He was behind conditioner Mark Casse's stablemate King and His Court (5-1) and Tiz a Slam (3-1), trained by Roger Attfield, who has won the Plate a record-tying eight times.
Guy Caballero paid $42.60, $13.60 and $6 while King and His Court returned $5.10 and $3.10. State of Honor paid $2.60
State of Honor ran Sunday for the first time since May 6 when he led midway through the Kentucky Derby before finishing 19th in the 20-horse field. However, State of Honor's struggles on synthetic surfaces had Casse unsure whether to run him in the Trial.
State of Honor began racing last season at Woodbine, needing five races to register his first win on its Tapeta track. After Casse switched State of Honor to dirt, the horse finished second four times, including in the Florida Derby on April 1 and Tampa Bay Derby in March en route to cementing a Derby berth.
"State of Honor ran big because he missed a little time after the Derby," Casse said. "I told the Conrads (owner Manfred and Penny Conrad) this race should help him.
"There's still the question if he can go a mile and a quarter. The surface is a question."
But Casse didn't close the door on State of Honor running in the Plate.
"Well, he's a Canadian-bred and for the Conrads the Queen's Plate is everything to them," Casse said. "As long as he's happy and healthy three weeks from now we'll see."
Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press
