John E. Russell owns Stanley House (Army Mule – Stormy’s Song) in a 50\/50 partnership with his wife, Diana. Russell also has another horse in the big race with Cool Kiss (Kantharos – Hot Kiss), made up of a partnership alongside Newtop Stables and Joseph De Paulo. Cool Kiss wears Newtop Stables\u2019 silks, and the decision on whose silks were chosen was, as Russell puts it, \u201cvery informal\u201d. Both horses are trained by Michael De Paulo. Russell\u2019s silks are described as \u201cRoyal blue, white blocks, blue sleeves, and fuchsia hoop with a blue cap.\u201d<\/p>\n For his personal silks, Russell took inspiration from Penny Chenery\u2019s silks, who trained Secretariat. \u201cI\u2019m sure everyone would recognize that they\u2019re very similar to Penny Chenery who bred and raced Secretariat. I\u2019ve always thought, and most people would agree, that he was the best racehorse of all time, so it was kind of always in the back of my mind. I thought that if I was in a position to be in this sport, I would want to utilize something similar, but didn\u2019t want to copy.\u201d<\/p>\n John and Diana got the chance opportunity to meet Chenery in Saratoga in the early-mid 90s. \u201cI\u2019ve always admired Penny. She just happened to be sitting adjacent to us in the grandstand and I looked over and said, \u2018Jeez, that looks like Penny\u2019. We had a bit of a conversation with her, and it stuck in my mind. That was the big motivating factor in the colours. It was important that they were not the same but were a memory of Secretariat and her.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell shares that Secretariat\u2019s success and ability were inspirational to him and a goal of his. He wanted to model his silks similar to Chenery\u2019s for that reason, \u201cWe took the blue and white checkered body of the jacket and made a change on the sleeves to put a fuscia band on the arms. We wanted to give it a little identity for ourselves and wanted a personal zip. Diana has a very artistic way about her, and she pulls out some colours, like \u2018Can we put this on the arm?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Russell also notes the multiple connections that Secretariat has to Canada and Canadian racing, noting how the horse\u2019s final race took place at Woodbine.<\/p>\n This marks Russell\u2019s first Plate. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of crazy for a small operation like ours to have two horses in the biggest race in the country. A partnership in one of them and another one we own entirely. To say the least, it\u2019s pretty exciting. We\u2019re very excited about the upcoming race and how well we\u2019ve been approached for the race. Julia Bell has been really helpful in guiding us through how the day will shape up. We\u2019re really looking forward to the day.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about how it would feel for their silks to be the first to cross the wire for The King\u2019s Plate, Russell says with a smile, \u201cI can\u2019t imagine. They\u2019re both legitimate chances in the race. In horse races, anything can happen, I just hope for a good, safe trip for everybody. It\u2019s a pretty remarkable story really, considering we never have more than one or two horses. We\u2019re competing with the big boys and they both belong and that\u2019s exciting. The silks always look great when you hit the wire first. They look fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n When talking more about the day ahead, \u201cBoth horses are legitimate in the race. Stanley was the favourite in the Plate Trial and Cool Kiss snuck up and got a second. We hope the same for the Plate.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell shares his appreciation for De Paulo and his family, who have worked with Russell since 2010. \u201cI would be most pleased for Michael and his family. Both horses are trained by Michael, and it\u2019s been a great experience with him leading up to the race. They\u2019re (Michael, Joseph, and Josie De Paulo) great people, and we\u2019re very lucky to be associated with them. Michael organized our breeding partnership (Phoenix Racing) and purchased Stanley House as a yearling for Diana & I. He\u2019s been there every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n Javier Castellano will ride Stanley House and Emma-Jayne Wilson will ride Cool Kiss. \u201cWe\u2019re in good hands all the way around,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n Kaukokaipuu (Mr Speaker – Grey Pride) is owned by Culpepper Island Syndicate and trained by Ted Holder. The Syndicate was formed by Holder, with the majority of the syndicate being made up of the Holder family, including his children and cousins.<\/p>\n \u201cThe syndicate was formed by me. It was originally just going to be my family,\u201d Holder shares. \u201cBut then, I told Edna Black, a good friend of mine, that I think this horse is going to be a nice horse and I should bring her along. The horse has a lot of class, he\u2019s not a high-maintenance horse. And away we went. My cousins are also involved in the horse. And Pink Racing is involved, I brought them along because they owned his sister (Hallanvaara). Most of the syndicate is made up of me and my family.\u201d<\/p>\n The Culpepper Island Syndicate silks are \u201cYellow, blue diamond yoke, with a blue hoop on the sleeves, and a yellow cap.\u201d These silks have been used by Holder since 1987 in Barbados. Colour symbolism was a big part of the decision-making process for the designs of Culpepper Island Syndicate\u2019s silks. \u201cBlue is my favourite colour and yellow was the colour of my high school. I look good in blue and yellow, so my horse will look good in blue and yellow too. So, I decided to go that route with the blue and yellow.\u201d<\/p>\n Holder also notes the popularity of blue in historic silks, \u201cBlue is one of the primary colours.\u201d As for the decision to incorporate blue diamonds in the design, \u201cChevrons were a big thing in England. So, I went for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Holder noticed Kaukokaipuu\u2019s talent early on. He wanted to be proactive and make the ownership of the grey colt a partnership and team effort, rather than just for himself. Since he owns most of the horse, alongside his family, it was Holder\u2019s choice to have the horse be a group representation. \u201cIt\u2019s not about me, it\u2019s about the group. There\u2019s always a team behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n This is also Holder\u2019s first Plate. \u201cI\u2019ve only run in about five stake races. He\u2019s a really nice horse on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about the historical significance of the biggest horse race in Canada, as well as this year\u2019s historic name change, he shares, \u201cA lot of history will be created that day. I didn\u2019t really start to think of the historical side of it until about a month ago. I started thinking about Ricky Griffith and everything started to go off in my mind. I\u2019m the first trainer from Barbados. There are a lot of firsts. A lot of history can be created. Then I started to get excited. And I want to create it, I want to win. And the horse is certainly acting like he wants to win. He\u2019s happy.\u201d<\/p>\n Holder reflects on what it means for his silks to be in the first King\u2019s Plate since 1951. \u201cIt means a lot. I brought them from Barbados. I\u2019ve had them under my personal name before. My own personal horses race under my black and white silks. The horses that are a part of my partnerships and syndicates will compete under the blue and yellow silks.\u201d<\/p>\n Al & Bill Ulwelling are a father-son ownership duo that has been working with trainer Kevin Attard for years. They have two horses running in this year\u2019s Plate; the first is Velocitor, and the second is Wickenheiser, who is owned in partnership with Clay Scherer and Kevin Attard. They also have a horse that they bred in the Plate, Morstachy\u2019s, who was claimed from Attard at the end of July and is now trained by Renico Lafond.<\/p>\n Al, who makes up the son part of the father-son ownership, talks more about their horses in the Plate, \u201cWe\u2019re the majority owners of Wickenheiser, so she runs in our silks. My father and I don\u2019t take on partners in horse racing, but this particular horse has tons of upsides, so we got Clay and Kevin involved. And she will run in our silks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have two daughters, we\u2019re big on girl power and we would love to see Wickenheiser win the Plate.\u201d Wickenheiser is named after Hayley Wickenheiser, Olympic gold medal-winning hockey player. \u201cKevin named her and came up with the world\u2019s best female hockey player.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ulwelling\u2019s silks are \u201cYellow, orange \u2018A & B\u2019, orange chevrons on sleeves, with an orange cap.\u201d It was a journey to get to the silks they have today, as their original silks didn\u2019t start out as distinct.<\/p>\n![\"Stanley](\"https:\/\/woodbine.com\/kingsplate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/08\/CDB_6190-1-scaled-800x533.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Kaukokaipuu](\"https:\/\/woodbine.com\/kingsplate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/08\/DSC_0319-scaled-800x533.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Ted](\"https:\/\/woodbine.com\/kingsplate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/08\/IMG_20230814_0001-800x529.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Wickenheiser](\"https:\/\/woodbine.com\/kingsplate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/08\/DSC_1721-scaled-800x533.jpg\")
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![\"Velocitor](\"https:\/\/woodbine.com\/kingsplate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/08\/DSC_2551-scaled-800x533.jpg\")
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