Every owner has their own set of silks, worn only by the jockeys who ride their horses. Each design is uniquely made to reflect the owners in personal, historical, or cultural ways. For the 165th running of The King’s Plate, five owners in the race shared the story of their silks and the meaning behind them. Vicki Comeau, owner of Spirit’s Path Management, co-owns Thor’s Cause in partnership with Joe Pignatelli and Alan J. McMullen. For the King’s Plate, Thor’s Cause will run in the Spirit’s Path Management silks, as the gelding raced in Pignatelli’s silks in his last race. Comeau’s silks are orange with a white cross on them, with a brown “SP” on the white hoop. She chose the orange, as it’s “such a happy colour” and stands out. McMullen’s original silks were orange as well. The orange also represents and reflects the holistic approach she uses in her work as a naturopathic doctor. “I kind of ran with that because when I learned of “Spirit” (Lake Manitou, a mare she co-owned who raced from 2016-2020), I said that I’m going to try to make her as happy, sound, and healthy as possible. I’m going to learn everything I can about a holistic approach.” She chose white for the cross, as Lake Manitou has a mark on her forehead that looks similar to a cross and the white also reflects how churches often feature a white cross in front of them. Comeau chose the cross on her silks to represent her Christianity. “[I opted for] the Holy Spirit and the Cross and what it represents. And Spirit (Lake Manitou) has a cross on her forehead. That’s where the cross came from.” Mary Self owns No More Options, and her father Zeljko Krcmar trains the horse. Self’s silks have red and white stars and a blue Texas longhorn on the back. “My husband was a Texan. I had other silks I’d use myself, but he passed away around seven years ago, so the whole family runs in it. They’re the colours of Texas and on the very back of them there’s a blue longhorn steer. They have these huge horns. He always used to say, ‘If you play with the bull, you’re always going to get the horns.’ “His blinkers also have the horns on them, so it’s very Texas.” Dominic Polsinelli owns and trains Roar of the Crowd. Polsinelli’s silks are red, white and green thirds, with a blue “V”, and a red maple leaf on white sleeves. “I was born in Italy, near Rome, so my silks are the Italian colours. I decided to put the Canadian maple leaf on the sleeves as well. One version of the silks has a ‘V’ on it, which is for my brother Vince.” Friendly Ghost is owned by Sue Leslie and trained by Evette Chartrand-Hoek. Leslie’s silks are navy with a pink “SL” and have pink hoops on navy sleeves. “Navy, in particular, and pink are my favorite colours. My niece Dawn was given the task by me to design my silks using those two colours. I love the silks and love her. She did a great job.” Al and Bill Ulwelling own Jokestar, and Pierre, with Kevin Attard as trainer. “We made them bright yellow with orange chevrons with A&B for us, the father-son team we’ve got,” said Al. “I thought we needed to add some class and sophistication to them but at the same time, we needed them to be bright. “At the end of the day, it’s something that my father and I wanted to do together; horses are a bond between my father and I. We’ve worked together and have been in the same business for 29 years. The significance of the A&B on there represents us together.” Sophie Charalambous, for Woodbine Communications Share This:Share
