Plate Day a historic event for Josie Carroll, Ron Sadler and Kevin Attard

By Steve Buffery

Woodbine trainer Kevin Attard left the Etobicoke track last Saturday feeling pretty darn good about how the day’s proceedings went down.

No, Attard didn’t win his third straight King’s Plate, but he did accomplish something almost equally as impressive, winning a record-tying five races on the program – including three Stakes triumphs.

But there was something else that put a smile on the star trainer’s face. The victory in the Grade 3 $175,000 Bold Venture Stakes by the Ron Sadler-trained Souped Up was obviously a feel-good moment for Souped Up’s connections, and for Attard as well. That win represented Sadler’s first ever graded-stakes score after almost 35 years of dedicated work in horse racing.

“That’s great,” said Attard. “Ron’s been in the industry a very long time, and when you see people that come up the right way, do things the right way and get rewarded, it’s great to see. At the end of the day, everybody that works back here puts in a lot of time and hours and those are the days you work towards.

“Ron’s a very quiet guy, a very humble kind of person, minds his own business, kind of happy to fly under the radar, a good, hard worker,” Attard continued. “When I’m in a race, my goal is to win. It’s competition, it’s sport. I want to win and if I can’t win then, there are people that I’m happy that do win. And when you see a guy like Ron have that success, I’m happy for him. “

For Souped Up, a six-year-old gelding ridden exquisitely by Emma-Jayne Wilson and owned by Linda J Theil and Harri Hosein, Saturday’s victory in the Bold Venture represented six-year-old gelding’s eighth victory in 23 career starts, second win in three starts this year and first stakes triumph after getting close a few times before.

“That’s a nice horse,” said Attard. “Ron’s done a good job with him to bring him along like he has, so kudos to him.”

For his part, Attard was obviously hoping that one of his entries in last Saturday’s King’s Plate might defy the odds and bring him his fourth Plate victory in the last five years, but it was not to be as Baaeed Alynna and Very Special finished well back in the classic race won brilliantly by the Josie Carroll-trained filly Luster – Carroll’s fourth Plate win.

“We went in there as long shots, with lofty goals,” said Attard. “It didn’t work out this year, but there’s always next year.”

After being shut-out in the Plate, Attard did the next base thing on the huge day of racing last Saturday. He won five races, including three Stakes - the bet365 Soaring Free (De la Renta), the Catch a Glimpse (Meloni), and the Grade 2 bet365 King Edward (Gas Me Up). He also won with Cattrall and Celebrity Warrior (IRE). He also came close with Eponine (IRE) in the Canadian Stakes Presented by the Japan Racing Association , who was second, Dewolf, who was second in the first race, and Paddy Holiday, who was third in the 13^thand last race of the day.

“It was obviously a great day, fantastic day for the barn,” said Attard. “Anytime you can win on those big days, it’s a little extra special. But to win five was just a super day.

“Listen, I’ve never won five races on a card, I didn’t know it tied a record until (Monday), when somebody messaged me,” Attard added. “That’s really special to have that little piece of history. We got close to having six, we had a couple of seconds. It was a fantastic day.”

Winning five in one day was a first for Attard, but winning three stakes on the same afternoon wasn’t. On last year’s King’s Plate card, Attard won the Plate with Mansetti, the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes with Gas Me Up and the Soaring Free Stakes with Two Out Hero.

Attard now has his sights set on some other big races – including the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes (the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown) on the dirt at Fort Erie Race Track on Sept.7, and the Grade 1 $500,000 Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes for two-year-old fillies on Sept. 12 at Woodbine – part of the Breeders’ Cup “win and you’re in” Challenge Series. Carroll has already suggested that King’s Plate champion Luster won’t be going to the Prince of Wales but will instead likely compete at the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on the grass at Keeneland on Oct.10.

“We’ve got a maiden, Buium, he’s a half brother to Haddassah, that won the Prince of Wales (in 2021) and, we might take a shot out there with him,” said Attard, adding that his two King’s Plate entries this year – Baaeed Alynna and Very Special – probably won’t be entered in the Prince of Wales.

Buium, owned and bred by Al and Bill Ulwelling, has yet to cross the finish line first but finished third in last year's Cup and Saucer Stakes.

“Very Special, we’re going to look back to going to a maiden race and we’ll kind of regroup with Baaeed. He had a bit of a rough trip, so we’ll let him get over that now and find another spot for him,” Attard said.

With Luster likely out of the Prince of Wales Stakes, the new favorite going into the race may be the King’s Plate runner-up Military Time, trained by Mark Casse. Also, look for a number of other King’s Plate runners in the Prince of Wales, including Fire And Wine, conditioned by Zeljko Krcmar, and Imyourmedicineman, owned and trained by Harold and Jesse Ladourceur.