If I had $50 and a prayer to the racing gods, here’s how I’d play The King’s Plate: $5 WPS ($15 total): 4 20c SuperBox ($28.80): 3,4,7 / 3,4,5,7 / 1,3,4,5,7,8 / 1,3,4,5,6,7,8 20c TriBox ($4.80): 3,4,5,7 20c TriBox ($1.20): 1,3,4 & something silly with the remaining 20c like a Tri: 1 / 13 / 8 And – for those curious – thoughts on the whole field; with wagering logic too *Reminder, we’re watching Canadian-foaled 3yos going 1 1/4 miles on the all-weather 1-Jokestar: the talent is definitely there & Emma-Jayne staying on makes me more than doubletake, but I don’t wonder if he wants a flat mile; scares for the exotics 2-Rafaroo: we’ve seen crazier things than a maiden win the Plate, but they’re asking a lot of this horse against a salty bunch; not saying a total toss but would only be in All underneath situations 3-Essex Serpent (pictured): tough to knock a 3-2-1-0 record with a homebred for these connections, and gotta wonder how many lengths best he’d have been in both stakes with less bumpy trips; can we really get 2-1??? 4-Caitlinhergrtness: I always bet the filly in the Plate, and she stepped up big off the confidence win to near-miss the Oaks cuz she’s got speed and clearly has grit; might be the mild upset special 5-Midnight Mascot: by an underrated good sire and proving to be worth the sale price, he’s had 3rditis against this group, but maybe the further stretch out is the answer, which is exactly what Ernie’s clocker report indicates too; feels like the horse that spoils some tickets 6-Friendly Ghost: totally understand why they’re taking the shot because he’s got the speed to hang with bunch, but they’re asking a lot to go this far only second time routing; maybe – and it’s a big maybe – use him underneath 7-My Boy Prince: the deserving favourite we’re all trying to beat cuz you don’t amass that record and not be respected, but I do think he might be vulnerable if someone truly challenges him for the lead; yes 8-Pierre: everything about him screams ticket spoiler. You look back after and go ‘Ohhhh, there it is” and okay he hasn’t won since breaking the maiden but he’s showing up really strong and this would be a logical next step up, but I don’t love that Rafael opted off for the filly; he’s on my exotics’ tickets 9-Thor’s Cause: maiden is bred to run for days but I fear it would take the hammer to whackamole a path to the winner’s circle; would happily use towards the top in an undercard allowance but no thank you here 10-Bedard: not saying the entire Blackhawks forward line would need to clear the way but not not saying that; he’ll be fun to watch develop and feels like a future stakes horse but not for me today 11-Roar of the Crowd: gets a jock upgrade and there’s room in the gate and worse ways to spend 12k than the entry fee but I just don’t see it; no thank you 12-No More Options: loses blinks after form has backpedaled a bit, but I could see some exotics fun with the right trip; maybe deep on backup tickets 13-Vitality: in off the win and does well off a month rest like today and has shown some grit to catch up late in the lane; intrigues for supers Photo of Essex Serpent courtesy of Michael Burns Photography Share This:Share
