SETTING THE TABLE

Queen's Plate number 148 is in 6 days and today, some of the horses expected to start in the 1 1/4 mile classic will parade in the walking ring at Woodbine.

The annual Queen's Plate barbeque is a unique event in that media and horsemen get together for a pre-Plate discussion. Five of the 9 projected starters are expected to come over to the walking ring to meet the press.

TWILIGHT METEOR is on schedule to arrive at Woodbine on Wednesday morning for trainer Todd Pletcher. John Velasquez will ride.
COBRADOR and DAAHER are the other two Canadian-bred shippers.
The locals are JIGGS COZ, LEONNATUS ANTEAS, ALLEZANDRO, INCLUDE US, MIKE FOX and MARCHFIELD.

Some of the hottest trainers at Woodbine have horses in the Plate - Sid Attard, his nephew Kevin Attard, Ian Black and Mark Casse. Will one of these guys win his first Queen's Plate??

Thursday morning in the draw for post positions at a breakfast in the walking ring at 9:30.

On Saturday morning at 8:30 (this is the correct time, I had put down 8 a.m. the other day), trainer MARK CASSE will be among the guests at the Woodbine Workouts discussion and breakfast.

OHHHHH BABY!

WOODBINE RE-CAP

Returning from a layoff of 9 months, George Bigliardi’s VERNE’S BABY set a track record at Woodbine yesterday for 6 furlongs – 1:09 1/5 – winning that comeback in a money allowance race that was awfully close to be a stakes race just because of the entrants.

His Beyer Figure was 105.

Verne’s Baby (Whiskey Wisdom) already holds the 7 furlongs track record at Woodbine, set last year in the Overskate Stakes.

It was the 6^th win in 8 starts for the large but delicate homebred gelding who is trained by Sid Attard.

Champion JUDITHS WILD RUSH was 4^th in the race while stakes winners JUST RUSHING AND TOTHEMOONANDBACK were unplaced.

Makes perfect sense that Knob Hill Stables’ SIWA won the mini stakes, the Zadracarta, at Woodbine yesterday since the event was named for a Knob Hill stakes winner.

By Alydeed out of the Storm Cat mare Zahara (who is out of Knob Hill’s mare Debra’s Victory), Siwa shot to the lead in the 6 furlong turf race and reached out while racing on the wrong lead through the stretch to win by 3 lengths.

KODIAK KOWBOY won the Victoria stakes, the first added-money race for 2yo’s at the meeting and it was the 2^nd consecutive year that trainer Steve Asmussen won the race. The late Chace City won the Victoria in 2006.

The Kowboy, from the first crop of the stallion Posse, debuted at Woodbine, was 4^th in a 2 furlong race, won his maiden with an 86 Beyer Figure and then came back to Woodbine for the win yesterday with a 76 Beyer Figure. The Kentucky-bred filly Lacadena was 2^nd and Yes It’s Bull was 3^rd.

How about FULL OF RUN winning the first split of the 6 ½ furlong maiden allowance turf race for breeders Mark Frostad and Patrick Lawley Wakelin? The Frostad beginner Storm the Castle finished third in the race.

The second split of that event went to the hot team of Eugene Melnyk and Mark Casse as PORTS COURT, a beginner by Graeme Hall, was up to win in a slightly faster 1:16 1/5.

Speaking of first-timer starters – trainer YVON BELSOEUR is 3 for 3 at the meeting with debut winners from starters. KAYLA’S COMET, by One Way Love, was the latest and she paid 5 to 1.

Melnyk was last week’s leading owner in North America by earnings – 4 wins in 11 starts including the Woodbine Oaks with SEALY HILL.

SCORECARD

TYLER PIZARRO has a one-win lead at 34 over PATRICK HUSBANDS and EMILE RAMSAMMY has 28 in 3^rd place.

ROBERT TILLER has 22 wins to lead the trainers over SID ATTARD, 20, and ABRAHAM KATRYAN 18.

IT WAS A JUNGLE OUT THERE

Stronach Stables’ JUNGLE FIGHTER, a 6yo son of Wild Rush – Joustabout who has only raced 13 times in his career, won the Old Nelson Stakes at Colonial Downs in Saturday (thank you to the reader for the heads up).

The gelding, who was 2^nd by a neck in a stakes race last year to the very talented Revved Up, won the 1 1/16 mile turf race with a 94 Beyer Figure.

He is trained by Justin Nixon. The gelding won his maiden at Fort Erie in 2005.

Jungle Fighter’s dam had her 2yo IF WHAT SO WHAT debut at Woodbine in the Victoria Stakes yesterday (9^th).

JUNGLE FIGHTER does sneak into the HOT CANADIAN-BRED LIST (see sidebar at right).