Kalik, Mission of Joy top latest King’s Plate Power Rankings

TORONTO, July 7, 2023 – Woodbine Entertainment today released its latest King’s Plate Power Rankings for the 164^th running of Canada’s most prestigious horse race.

The 164^th King’s Plate is the first leg of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and is scheduled for Sunday, August 20 at Woodbine Racetrack.

The King’s Plate Power Rankings provide a look at the current top contenders and is released several times ahead of this year’s race. The voting committee for The King’s Plate Power Rankings consists of Jeff Bratt (Woodbine Racing Host/Analyst), Monique Vág (Woodbine Racing Host/Analyst), Robert Geller (Woodbine Track Announcer), Ernie Perri (Woodbine Head Clocker/Oddsmaker) and Ron Gierkink (Daily Racing Form).

Each voter submits their own top-10 list and points are awarded to each horse based on their placement (10 points for first through one point for 10^th).

After taking top spot on the first rankings list, Stanley House has now been bumped down to number three, with Kalik and Mission of Joy moving to a tie for the top spot, each receiving the same number of points and first-place votes.

Kalik is scheduled to run this Saturday in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational. The Chad Brown trainee is 5/1 on the morning line for the $750,000 race, which is contested at a one and one-quarter mile on the turf.

Competing in his toughest race to date on Saturday, Kalik is a perfect three for three this season, most recently posting a victory in the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont.

Mission of Joy will also be competing Saturday on Belmont’s super stakes card. The top-ranked filly for this year’s Plate is the 2/1 morning line favourite for the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational, which will also be run at one and one-quarter mile on the turf.

The Graham Motion trained Mission of Joy has multiple graded stakes victories to her name, posting wins in the Grade 3 Regret Stakes on June 3 at Churchill and the Grade 3 Florida Oaks in early-March at Tampa Bay.

Stanley House lands third on the latest list for owners John and Diana Russell. The locally trained three-year-old has been idle since an impressive victory on June 18 at Woodbine.

Here is the full list for the second King’s Plate Power Rankings:

Rank: Horse (Career Record, Earnings) – Trainer – Points – First Place Votes – Previous Ranking

1: Kalik (5-3-1-0, $224,675) – Chad Brown – 46 – 2 – 2^nd
1: Mission of Joy (6-4-0-1, $289,567) – Graham Motion – 46 – 2 – 3^rd
3: Stanley House (6-2-3-0, $126,875) – Ross Armata Jr. – 42 – 1 – 1^st
4: Northern Invader (3-1-2-0, $79,500) – Cherie DeVaux – 33 – 0 – NR
5: Kaukokaipuu (11-2-7-0, $224,413) – Tedston Holder – 29 – 0 – 7^th
6: Philip My Dear (6-3-0-2, $306,697) – Kevin Attard – 11 – 0 – 10^th
7: Ancient Peace (5-2-1-0, $129,900) – John Sadler – 10 – 0 – NR
8: Twin City (7-2-4-0, $198,572) – Stuart Simon – 9 – 0 – 4^th
9: Equivoque (2-1-1-0, $55,144) – Todd Pletcher – 7 – 0 – 8^th
10: Paramount Prince (4-1-2-1, $70,528) – Mark Casse – 7 – 0 – 9^th

The 164^th running of The King’s Plate will take place on Sunday, August 20 at Woodbine Racetrack. Tickets are on sale now.

Fans can track the power rankings and all information regarding The King’s Plate by visiting KingsPlate.com and following Woodbine’s social media platforms via @WoodbineTB.