Strait Of Dover triumphs in Queen’s Plate Stakes
Strait Of Dover stormed to a convincing victory in the Queen’s Plate Stakes at Woodbine in Canada on Sunday, June 24, 2012. His victory helped owner, Canyon Farm, earn $600,000 in the end.
Yesterday’s victory was a second consecutive one for Strait Of Dover, who made his debut in the sport this year. He was impressive on his debut as well and did not allow any other runner to come even closer to him.
Although the Danny Vella’s trainee won his first race by six and a half lengths, he was not given the best odds by the bookies at Woodbine. However, he still had a very good starting price of 19 to 5, which was second best to the favourite, River Rush.
Breaking into the race from trap number four, Strait Of Dover had a clean start and kept on building momentum from then onwards. He displayed very good stamina and finished on top of the table by more than one length.
Justin Stein, who partnered the three-year-old runner yesterday, was pleased with the outcome of the race. He claimed that the victory came quite easily and he did not have to push harder at all.
“I’ve loved this horse all along,” said Stein. “He’s shown me that he’s a racehorse. He wants to win. He calmed right down as we went into the gate. I didn’t have to be on the lead, but no one else wanted to go. We were going pretty easy, so I just let him
roll on up there. He galloped around there like a champ.”
On the other hand, Vella was also impressed with the performance of his trainee and he expects him to continue winning more races in the future. He also went onto praise Justin, saying that he was a very good jockey.
According to Vella, “Justin is a great rider, with a lot of confidence. He knew when he was out there that he’d have to try and slow it down. He’s a great horse, and it was a great ride.”
The race proved to be a little disappointing for River Rush, who was expected to claim the Queen’s Plate. He had a clean run, but simply lacked the stamina to finish on top of the table.
Tags: