Frostad has three for 151st Queen's Plate

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/01/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trainer Mark Frostad and Sam-Son Farm go after a second straight victory in Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate at Woodbine Race Course. The 1 1/4-mile race is the beginning a the Canadian Triple Crown.

Queen Elizabeth II will be in attendance for the 151st Queen's Plate.

Following last year's Queen's Plate win with Eye of the Leopard, trainer and owner have entered three in Canada's premier thoroughbred event. A total of 13 Canadian-bred three-year-olds have been entered.

The three horses that Frostad will saddle are 3-1 favorite Hotep, Dark Cloud Dancer and Giant's Tomb. Trainer and owner won the Plate in 2000 and 2001 with Scatter the Gold and Dancethruthedawn, respectively, as well as last year.

Hotep will be ridden by Patrick Husbands from post 11. Husbands won the Plate aboard Wando in 2003.

"He should be spot on for the race," noted Frostad. "He has a good stalking style and a good kick."

The colt is coming off a second-place finish to Exhi in the Marine Stakes on May 29. Hotep had won the Wando at Woodbine on May 8 in his first local start of the year.

"He gets pretty revved up. He just gets on his toes and uses a lot of energy in his races," said Frostad. "We wanted to give him five weeks into the Plate. We wanted him in good order for the big race."

Earlier this year Hotep raced at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. He was 10th in the Risen Star Stakes and 11th in the Louisiana Derby. The colt has career earnings of $187,740 with three wins in eight starts.

Dark Cloud Dancer is 15-1 in the morning-line and will be ridden by Javier Castellano from post four. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has the mount on Giant's Tomb. The chestnut colt is 12-1 in the program and will leave from post eight. Smith rode Awesome Again to victory in the 1997 Plate.

Other Plate winners for Sam-Son Farm are Regal Intention (1988) and Dance Smartly (1991). Frostad also saddled Victor Cooley to win the race in 1996.

Here is the complete field for the Queen's Plate in position order: Vicar Street, Tyler Pizarro, 30-1; Who We Gunna Call, Gerry Olguin, 30-1: D's Wando, Emma-Jayne Wilson, 20-1; Dark Cloud Dancer, Javier Castellano, 15-1; Big Red Mike, Eurico Rosa da Silva, 6-1; Smart Sky, Chantal Sutherland, 30-1; Ghost Fleet, Richard Dos Ramos, 20-1; Giant's Tomb, Mike Smith, 12-1; Mobilizer, Jono Jones, 7-2; Roan Inish, Davy Moran, 9-2; Hotep, Patrick Husbands, 3-1; Mobthewarrior, Emile Ramsammy, 10-1 and Moment of Majesty, Robert Landry, 12-1.

The two fillies, Roan Inish and Moment of Majesty, will each carry 121 pounds while the 11 males will tote 126 pounds each. The winner will earn $600,000.

Post-time for the Queen's Plate is slated for 5:40 p.m. (et).

The Triple Crown will continue with the Prince of Wales Stakes on Sunday, July 25 at Fort Erie Racetrack and the Breeders' Stakes on Sunday, August 15 back at Woodbine.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.