This Sunday Woodbine will be hosting exciting races for fillies and mares. The Queen’s Plate and also three graded stakes: Highlander S., Dance Smartly S., and Ontario Coleen S. Let’s see the preview, predictions, and odds for all of them.
Queen’s Plate – $1,000,000, 10f Tapeta, 3yo Canada-bred
Canada’s oldest race is blessed with a hugely competitive renewal this year, with the morning line favorite a 4-1 chance and five horses at single-figure odds giving it a very open feel.
Trainer Kevin Attard has four contenders, with the best seemingly the filly Munnyfor Ro (9-2), who won the Woodbine Oaks in impressive fashion three weeks ago and who should be fine with today’s extra furlong. Fillies have a good recent record in the Queen’s Plate and the sex allowance may tip the scales in her favor.
Keep Grinding (4-1) and Haddassah (10-1) are closely matched on their running in the Grade 3 Marine here (Tidal Forces fifth), while there was only a nose between Harlan Estate (12-1) and Dance Some Mo (12-1) when they filled the exacta in an allowance optional claimer here over nine furlongs last month, but all four have something to prove in terms of quality, as does Safe Conduct (5-1), outclassed in the Belmont Derby latest.
Avoman (8-1), on the other hand, won the Plate Trial here – HC Holiday and Derzkii promoted to second and third – on his second outing following a seven-month break, and that should have put him cherry-ripe for this.
Horse Betting Prediction: Avoman
| Horse | Jockey | Odds according to JazzSports |
|---|---|---|
| SAFE CONDUCT | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | +500 |
| HARLAN STATE | Kazushi Kimura | +1200 |
| HADDASSAH | Gary Boulanger | +1000 |
| TAKE A CHANCE | Keveh Nicholls | +2000 |
| H C HOLIDAY | Luis Contreras | +1500 |
| MUNNYFOR RO | Justin Stein | +450 |
| RIPTIDE ROCK | David Moran | +600 |
| KEEP GRINDING | Rafael Manuel Hernandez | +400 |
| GO TAKE CHARGE | Sahin Civaci | +3000 |
| DANCE SOME MO | Patrick Husbands | +1200 |
| AVOMAN | Antonio A. Gallardo | +800 |
| TIDAL FORCES | Emma-Jayne Wilson | +1200 |
| DERZKII | Jason Hoyte | +3000 |
Highlander Stakes Grade 1 – $350,000, 6f turf, 3yo+
This could be a straightforward assignment for the filly Caravel (Evens), who has her first start for trainer Graham Motion after taking her winning streak to three in the Grade 3 Caress at Saratoga last month.
She is still firmly on the upgrade and can make the most of her sex allowance against all-male opposition, best of whom may be City Boy (9-2), who was runner-up in the Grade 2 Nearctic over track and trip in October – weighted to turn the tables on narrow winner Silent Poet (12-1) – and tuned up for this with a sound effort in an allowance optional claimer here over five furlongs three weeks ago.
Horse Betting Prediction: Caravel
| Horse | Jockey | Odds according to JazzSports |
|---|---|---|
| OLD CHESTNUT | Patrick Husbands | +1000 |
| ADMIRALTY PIER | Antonio A. Gallardo | +1500 |
| TURNED ASIDE | Emma-Jayne Wilson | +350 |
| CHUCK WILLIS | Kazushi Kimura | +800 |
| HONEY WON’T | Jeffrey Ian Alderson | +3000 |
| CITY BOY | David Moran | +450 |
| CARAVEL | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | -100 |
| SILENT POET | Justin Stein | +1200 |
Dance Smartly Stakes Grade 2 – $175,000, 10f turf, 3yo+ fillies/mares
Etoile, beaten only three-quarters of a length in this race 12 months ago, looks primed to go one better, especially as she has claimed Grade 1 honors since then, winning the EP Taylor over track and trip last October.
In her European days, she was fourth in the Group 1 French Oaks, and a Chad Brown contender on the weeds is always front and center even without these bona fide credentials. Mutamakina (9-5) and Blame Debbie (4-1) are Grade 3 winners with a fine chance of hitting the board, but Etoile (2-1) looks a class apart.
Horse Betting Prediction: Etoile
| Horse | Jockey | Odds according to JazzSports |
|---|---|---|
| BLAME DEBBIE | Kazushi Kimura | +400 |
| MERVEILLEUX | Rafael Manuel Hernandez | +1500 |
| AFLEET KATHERINE | Justin Stein | +1200 |
| ALNASEEM | David Moran | +600 |
| ETOILE | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | +200 |
| MUTAMAKINA | Dylan Davis | +180 |
| COURT RETURN | Luis Contreras | +1000 |
Ontario Colleen Stakes Grade 3 – $150,000, 1m turf, 3yo fillies
Chad Brown can also be on the mark with Misspell (2-1), who is booked for further improvement with only three outings on her card, the most recent being a strong-closing effort in a Saratoga allowance optional claimer. That was her first run of 2021 and she is preferred to Our Flash Drive (5-2), winner of the Grade 3 Selene on the Tapeta here last time out.
Horse Betting Prediction: Misspell
| Horse | Jockey | Odds according to JazzSports |
|---|---|---|
| SWEET SOUPER SWEET | Antonio A. Gallardo | +1500 |
| OUR FLASH DRIVE | Patrick Husbands | +250 |
| SALTY AS CAN BE | Rafael Manuel Hernandez | +1000 |
| PERSEVERANCIA | Luis Contreras | +2000 |
| I GET IT | Kazushi Kimura | +600 |
| SEASONS | Shaun Bridgmohan | +800 |
| SPEIGHTSTOWN SHIRL | Emma-Jayne Wilson | +350 |
| MISSPELL | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | +200 |
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