The first horse race of the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing takes place this Sunday, August 21st at Woodbine Racetrack.
The Queen’s Plate is often considered the “Kentucky Derby” of Canada and most would agree it’s the biggest race, surrounded by the most fanfare at Woodbine each racing season.
This year we have 11 horses taking part in the race with four horses with 6-1 or shorter odds to win the race. We'll take a look at each horse and provide you with our best free betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash for the summer.
| Queen's Plate 2022 |  |
|---|---|
| Moira | 5/2 |
| Rondure | 3/1 |
| Duke of Love | 5/1 |
| Causin Mayhem | 6/1 |
| Sir for Sure | 8/1 |
| The Minkster | 10/1 |
| Ironstone | 12/1 |
| Hall of Dreams | 12/1 |
| Shamateur | 30/1 |
| Dancin in Da'Nile | 30/1 |
| Hunt Master | 30/1 |
Learn more about how to bet on horse racing here.
Horse racing information
- Queen's Plate 2022
- Canadian Triple Crown - Leg 1
- Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto, Ontario
- 5:42pm ET off-time
- 11 runners
Queen's Plate 2022 field
Moira (5/2)
Woodbine Oaks winner Moira, who has raced in nothing but stakes and won three of them, was drawn into post 8 and made the 5-2 favorite for the 163rd running of the $773,650 Queen’s Plate Stakes on Sunday.
Trained by Kevin Attard, the filly by Ghostzapper will try to become the race’s fifth female winner in the last 12 years. Rafael Hernandez will have the ride on Moira, who was bought as a yearling for $150,000 by X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables and SF Racing.
Stretching out the classic distance of 1 ¼ miles will be no problem for the big, long filly.
“I don’t see the distance being a problem for her," Attard said. "I think she has a great running style for this type of race. She is very tactical. We are getting five pounds less than the boys and she’s bred to handle the distance and runs like she can handle the distance.”
At 5/2 there's good value in the favourite, and she is my pick to be successful on Sunday afternoon.
Check out our review for BetOnline sports betting here.
Rondure (3/1)
Rondure, an Oxbow colt who won the Marine Stakes (G3) last month at Woodbine, drew post 6 and was made the 3-1 second choice. Flavien Prat will ride him for trainer Katarina Vassilieva.
After a sparkling season to date, it appears Rondure is well ahead of the curve. Opening his sophomore season with an absolute romp, the Borders Racing Stable homebred finished second, a neck back of fellow Plate contender The Minkster, in the Queenston Stakes.
One race later, Rondure wowed the crowd and his connections with an authoritative score in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes.
It's not the longest of races and Rondure is quick, but it will be tough to see victory on Sunday in the same field as the likes of Moira and The Minkster, so I'd look past him this time.
Duke of Love (5/1)
Possible pacesetter Duke of Love will start from post 5 carrying odds of 5-1. The Cupid colt trained by Josie Carroll is an allowance winner who most recently finished a troubled fourth in the Plate Trial last month at Woodbine.
Sporting a mark of 2-1-0 from six starts, Duke of Love won at first asking, last November at Woodbine. He was fifth in the Pulpit Stakes at Gulfstream, in his final start as a 2-year-old. After a win to launch his 3-year-old campaign, the bay was fourth in the Queenston, second in the Grade 3 Marine and then fourth in the Plate Trial.
Duke of Love is likely to be the horse that leads the race for the majority of the run, but it is all about whether or not jockey Justin Stein is capable of keeping gas in the tank for the end of the race when it's needed most.
Leading the race often takes a lot out of a horse and while Stein is vastly experienced, Duke of Love hasn't shown that he has that winning mentality in recent times and he's likely to fade away rather than be successful.
Causin Mayhem (6/1)
The son of leading sire Into Mischief was unraced as a two-year-old and comes into the Queen's Plate 2022 as one of the more lightly raced hopefuls, with just three career starts.
Trained by Todd Pletcher and with jockey Antonio Gallardo riding him on Sunday, he couldn't have been given a much better platform to perform on such a grand stage for the fourth start of his career. In June, he broke his maiden at second asking over a mile on the dirt. The race was originally scheduled for the turf and Causin’ Mayhem led gate to wire.
The colt made his Canadian debut in the Plate Trial, at 9 furlongs on the Tapeta. Once again, he made the early lead before finishing third. There's been some doubt if he can do the distance of this race, so don't touch this bet with a pole.
The Minkster (10/1)
Trainer Danny Vella obviously knows his way around a Queen’s Plate, having sent out Basqueian to win in 1994 and Strait of Dover to follow suit 18 years later.
Another decade has passed and now Vella is back with a legitimate threat in the form of the The Minkster, who like Strait of Dover, is a son of English Channel.
The Minkster is heading into the Plate off a sixth-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial, for which he was favoured at 9-5. But, explains Vella, the colt had a legitimate excuse for that defeat, which was his first in four career outings.
He's had a solid season so far, and at 10/1 he's definitely a value bet worth looking at for an each-way flutter.
Check out our review for BetUS sports betting here.
