Telekinesis triumphs in Plate Trial

TORONTO, June 9, 2018—Telekinesis, sent off at 2-5, didn’t exactly have to move mountains but found the Plate Trial to be more than a routine exercise as he prevailed by 1 3/4 lengths over a dead game Rose’s Vision on Saturday at Woodbine Racetrack.

Patrick Husbands was giving trainer Mark Casse his fifth win of the afternoon in the 1 1/8 mile Plate Trial, a $125,000 race for Canadian-bred three-year-olds which is a stepping-stone to the $1 million Queen’s Plate at 1 1/4 miles on June 30.

“He was travelling so easy,” said Husbands, who was riding Telekinesis for the first time in a race. “By the time I left the gate, he had one ear back and one ear forward and that’s a sign that a horse is comfortable under you.

“So I got about the three-quarter pole and he still had one ear forward and one ear back, he showed me that he was just playing with that horse.

“Down the lane, I was squeezing him a little bit. He did just enough to win the race.”

Telekinesis had moved quickly into the lead from his No. 2 post and controlled the pace through a quarter in :25.06 and a half in :49.66 with Rose’s Vision in hot pursuit and Scrapper running third on the inside.

Heading around the final turn, Rose’s Vision took on Telekinesis in earnest but remained a half-length back through six furlongs in 1:13.31. At the furlong pole, Rose’s Vision was just a head off Telekinesis with the mile clocked in 1:37.61.

And while the winner drew away in the final stages, finishing in 1:50.40, Rose’s Vision was easily second with Aheadbyacentury 4 3/4 lengths back in third-place with a belated run. Boyhood Dream ran fourth, 1 1/2 lengths behind Aheadbyacentury.

Scrapper, invading from New York for trainer Todd Pletcher, lost touch late and wound up fifth with a never-dangerous Absolution sixth in the field of seven.

Silent Sting, the second choice, had dropped back abruptly around the final turn and checked in a distant last. He underwent a brief examination by the racetrack veterinarian but walked back to the barn.

All starters in the Plate Trial carried 126 pounds, the same impost which will be assigned to male entrants in the Queen’s Plate.

Telekinesis, owned by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stables, was making his first start at Woodbine and coming off a narrow second-place finish in Keeneland’s Grade 3, 1 1/16 mile Lexington on April 14.

The son of Ghostzapper, who has sired two of the past three Queen’s Plate winners, did not make it to the races until February 9 and the Plate Trial was his fourth career start.

Telekinesis paid $2.90, $2.40 and $2.10. He combined with Rose’s Vision ($9.20, $5) for a 2-3 exacta worth $22.20. A $1 trifecta of 2-3-5 (Aheadbyacentury, $2.90) paid $34.35 and a $1 superfecta of 2-3-5-7 (Boyhood Dream) returned $262.60.