Bajans going for Queen’s Plate top prize

By Lindon Yarde

Ace jockey Patrick Husbands leads three other Barbadians who will be vying today for top honours in the prestigious CAN$1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine Race Track in Toronto, Canada.

It will be the 22nd race appearance for Husbands, who will be joined by jockey Keveh Nicholls in his second attempt, along with the first-time combination of jockey Jason Hoyte and trainer Carlos Grant.

Husbands will ride Dance Some Mo, while Nicholls partners Take A Chance and Hoyte will be astride the Grant-trained Derzkii in the one and a quarter-mile race, which is slated to run off at 5:42 p.m.

Drawn at No. 10, Dance Some Mo seeks his second career win in six starts and will look to give Husbands a third success in the race.

Husbands previously won with Wando in 2003, which remains the last of seven Canadian Triple Crown winners, and in 2014 astride Lexis Lou.

Gets a leg

After his debut ride last year with Truebelieve, Nicholls now gets the leg aboard Take A Chance, which will be racing from gate four for trainer Catherine Day.

Winning the Queen’s Plate on the bay colt, which recorded his maiden win last start, would be like a dream come through for Nicholls, who never sat on

Take A Chance before.

“I worked him five eights last Saturday and he worked very good. I think he has a very good chance as the race is wide open. There’s no real standout except the Oaks winner Munnyfor Ro. Catherine does a good job and I’m sure she’ll have him ready to go,” Nicholls told SunSport.

It would also be an exciting time for Grant and Hoyte if brown gelding Derzkii tilts the Plate in their favour.

Having won back-to-back races, Derzkii earned an upgrade to third place in his last effort, the Plate Trial Stakes, following a rough trip.

“She however emerged from that race a little beaten up [and] I got the chiropractor to work on him,” said Grant, who will be in his first Queen’s Plate as a trainer, having been there before as a groom.

Open race

“I’m feeling very good. It’s an open race in my view as there’s no clear-cut favourite like years ago. I would like him to break and fasten in behind horses and just wait.

“I always like to see my horses coming off the pace. He can make his move running up the backstretch and stay on the outside clear of traffic,” Grant added.

Hoyte said he was feeling very excited.

“It’s unbelievable. I only worked him on Sunday and he went really well and gave me goosebumps. If I can win the race I would feel like I can go from here to the sky and back like anytime.”

The second Jewel, the Prince Of Wales, will run on September 14 at Fort Erie, with the third Jewel, the Breeders Stakes at Woodbine (Turf) on October 3.

Patrick Husbands (FP)