Edenwold defies juvenile jinx to win landmark Queen's Plate

Since 1977, only one Canadian champion juvenile had gone on to win the

Queen's Plate the following season, and that was the great filly Dance Smartly

in 1991. On Sunday at Woodbine, Jim and Alice Sapara's EDENWOLD (Southern Halo),

Canada's champion two-year-old male in 2005, defied the historical trend, as

well as his 16-1 odds, in determined fashion to become the 147th winner of the

$892,848

Queen's

Plate. In the process, conditioner Josie Carroll secured her place in

history as the first female trainer to capture this prestigious prize. Jockey

Emile Ramsammy, who had won the Plate aboard Victor Cooley in 1996, prepared for

the occasion by coloring his hair to match the red and gold Sapara silks.

Breaking from the rail, Ramsammy positioned Edenwold beautifully just behind

the Todd Pletcher-trained Sterwins (Runaway Groom), who rattled off feisty

splits of :22 3/5, :45 4/5 and 1:11 1/5. Stalking to the outside of the winner

were Malakoff (Lemon Drop Kid) and the 3-2 favorite, Wanna Runner (El Corredor)

from the Bob Baffert barn. Late in the backstretch, as Wanna Runner began to

beat a quick retreat and Malakoff was unable to keep up, Sterwins came off the

rail, and Ramsammy sent Edenwold through to seize the lead through a mile in

1:37 4/5.

Sterwins was not about to concede the issue, and as the two entered

the stretch, a prolonged struggle appeared in the offing. Edenwold knuckled down

toward the inside and regained the advantage. Although Sterwins kept trying, he

could not overtake the winner, who crossed the wire three-quarters of a length

ahead while finishing the 1 1/4 miles on the fast track in 2:05 1/5. It was

another four lengths back to Malakoff, who just held third by a nose over Ascot

Bill (Vicar).

"At the three-eighths pole," Ramsammy said, "I glanced over, and my

opposition wasn't much of a threat at the time. They were all scrubbing quite a

bit. I thought the (Frank) Stronach horse (Malakoff) was going to come with a

big kick. He was up early, so I thought when he was done, he was over. I guess

about 10 jumps later, I really felt comfortable."

"The fractions were so fast, I was getting concerned," winning trainer

Carroll said. "The horse looked comfortable all the way. When they turned for

home, and he picked it up, I said, 'You know what, we are going all the way.'"

Edenwold rewarded the faith of his backers with mutuels of $34.40, $15.90 and

$10.30 while keying exotics of $233.60 (exactor), $986.90 (triactor) and

$5,861.50 (1-5-8-6 superfecta for $1). Second choice Sterwins paid $6.60 and

$5.40 at 4-1, while Malakoff went off at the same price to give back $4.20.

Ascot Bill, Shillelagh Slew (Chief Seattle), Pipers Thunder (Thunder Gulch), Atlas Shrugs

(Compadre), Cifercat (Ciano Cat), Hot Deputy (Silver Deputy), Wanna Runner,

Thinking Out Loud (Regal Classic), Bridgecut (Silver Deputy) and Pyramid Park (Tethra)

completed the order of finish.

Baffert was baffled by Wanna Runner's poor performance.

"It's the first time he's ever thrown in a clunker like that," Baffert

said. "(Jockey) Victor

(Espinoza) said at the five-eighths pole, he acted like a horse that might have

bled. We're going to scope him. I don't know if he just got stirred up or what.

Physically, he said he felt alright, but exhausted."

"It surprised me," Espinoza said. "I thought he was going to run better than

that. He's a racehorse. What are you going to do? Sometimes they feel good;

sometimes they don't run any good."

Edenwold has now earned $863,333 from a scoreline of 11-5-3-1. The chestnut

placed in both of his starts this year, a close second in the Queenston S. and

most recently a third in the Plate Trial S. As a juvenile, he earned

championship honors in the wake of victories in the Colin S., Vandal S. and

Simcoe S.

Bred in Ontario, Canada, by Gail Wood and W. Diamant, the Queen's Plate hero

was sold to his current owners for $77,690 at the Ontario September yearling

sale in 2004. His dam is the winning Mining mare Best of Friends, who is herself

a half-sister to Canadian Grade 2 winner Vice N' Friendly (Vice Regent). She has

also produced a 2006 filly by Salt Lake. This is the family of Canadian Grade 3

winner and 1998 Queen's Plate runner-up Brite Adam. The female line traces to

*Boudoir II (*Mahmoud) through her influential daughter Your Hostess (*Alibhai).

In other stakes action at Woodbine:

When two-time defending champion Soaring Free (Smart Strike) scratched out of

the $178,712

Scotts

Highlander S. (G3), that left the door open for Terra Racing Stable's MARCO

BE GOOD (Bold n' Flashy), unheralded at 12-1, to garner his first career stakes

score. Rating well off the fast early fractions beneath jockey Justin Stein, the

four-year-old chestnut gelding rallied strongly down the center of the course in

the stretch to post a half-length victory over Atticus Kristy (Atticus), with

Sophia's Prince (Schossberg) another half-length back in third. Awesome Action

(Awesome Again) was fourth, trailed by 6-5 favorite Man of Illusion (Aus) (Encosta

de Lago), Gamblers Slew (Metfield) and Langfleur (Langfuhr).

A claim of foul lodged against the winner by Simon Husbands, the rider of the

third-place finisher, alleging interference on the far turn, was disallowed by

the stewards. The final time for the firm-turf six furlongs was 1:07 4/5, just

one tick off the Woodbine course record.

Marco Be Good has compiled a 17-5-2-3 mark under the tutelage of trainer John

Ross. Bred by Dom Romeo in Ontario, he is out of the winning Flying Paster mare Berg Venus.

Making his first start since his 10th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby

(G1), William S. Farish Jr.'s SEASIDE RETREAT (King Cugat) outclassed the field

in the $90,424

Charley Barley S.  Sent off as the 4-5 favorite in the one-mile turf

contest, the Mark Casse trainee loped along slightly beyond midpack in the early

going. Once jockey Patrick Husbands asked him for run, though, the bay sophomore

sliced between horses and asserted his superiority to stride clear by 4 1/2

lengths. French Beret (Broad Brush) and Moka Jumbie (Aptitude) were second and

third, respectively.

Seaside Retreat, bred by Farish and Centennial Farms Management Company in

Kentucky, is the first registered foal from the stakes-placed Boundary mare Shes

Like Rio. He has boosted his bankroll to $320,032 while improving his scorecard

to 9-4-1-1.

Also on the turf in the $89,356

Singspiel

S., Kingfield Racing Stable's JAMBALAYA (Langfuhr) made an eye-catching move

to take the lead in upper stretch, but his work was only just beginning as Last

Answer (Langfuhr) threw down a bold challenge on the outside. Under

encouragement from Jono Jones, Jambalaya kept finding more to maintain a safe

neck advantage at the wire, completing 1 1/2 miles in 2:27. The top pair had 6

3/4 lengths to spare over Diplomatic Agent (Deputy Minister) in third, with

even-money favorite Pellegrino (Brz) (Nugget Point [Ire]) taking fourth in a

photo.

The Catherine Day-Phillips charge earned his third career stakes win,

following a course-and-distance success in the 2005 Breeders' S. as well as the

Saranac S. (G3) at Saratoga. The four-year-old gelding's record now stands at

11-5-0-2. Produced by the winning Muskrat Suzie (Vice Regent), Jambalaya was

bred by Gustav Schickedanz in Ontario.