The Queens Plate Stakes ($1,000.000 Purse)
WO- For Three Year Olds Foaled in Canada
One Mile and One Quarter on the Dirt
June 27, 2020

It has been an eventful year already for Anoush Command, starting out with Serenity Stables as a TC hopeful to landing with Fractious and becoming one of the main horses to beat for the KYD and beyond. The KYD did not go as planned for the Command Attention colt, and after picking up the fourth place purse in the PRK, Anoush Command could target something else afterwards. Being Canadian allowed him to run here, in the Queens Plate, instead of bothering with the BEL at the start of the month. While this was still a strong field, he’d be the only entrant here that had run in any of the TC races. This made him the horse to beat, and on Saturday he stepped up and delivered, although it was certainly very close. The winning trainer is Fractious, doing so for the first time in the Queens Plate. K J Desormeaux, however, has done this before, and has now won the stake four times, making him now the most successful jockey in the race. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 2:01.20, the third quickest in its history. Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.73)- Fortaleza bursts out of the starting gate for Mb Stables, and is able to move over to the rail pretty quickly. Eventually, he pulls out to a three length advantage after Anoush Command had been one of the quicker starters as well before becoming restrained. However, Fortaleza would eventually back off, and that three length lead he would build would actually be cut down to nothing as Bigking’s Ngannou came up to join him on the front end after half a mile. They would have a lead of a little more then two lengths over a three wide group sitting a bit off the pace. County Medical, from Crocker Ggs, was to the inside here, with both Ronaldo Chop and Vengeful, from Night Rider Stables and Mb Stables respectively, running to his outside. After another length and a half, we get to the pack, and with a neck in front here it is Better Back Off, out of BomBay Stables. Dirty Kruz (Nakamura Stables) is right beside him to the inside, and in a similar spot on the outside, it is Declassified (Mb Stables). Nearby on the rail, it is our eventual winner from Fractious, Anoush Command. After looking good out of the gate, he is restrained to be in the ninth position now, and running five lengths back. Behind him, it’s Sheza Showgirl (Australia Wide), Warhead (Team 7 Illusions), Becket (John Henry), Hollywood Dump (Night Rider Stables), and Appreciate (Mo Mentum Farm).

(3/4 Mile- 1:11.30)- There is not much that changes during the backstretch, but Fortaleza does start to pull ahead of Ngannou by a length again. Further back, a slight mover is County Medical as they approach the turn as he separates himself from the two in which he had been running with before. He still has a three length gap to the leader, however. Vengeful and Ronaldo Chop drop back just a little bit. Anoush Command has not made a big move yet, but in maintaining his steady stride, he has been able to advance to the sixth position all while being able to remain close to the rail. Dirty Kruz, Better Back Off and Declassified all hold their spots as well, and those further back need to start picking it up pretty soon.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Rounding the turn, Fortaleza is still looking very good on the front end, and this is going to make it hard for any deep closers to have a shot here. Fortunately for Anoush Command, he was not in that category at all, and he would begin making his move to the front at the beginning of the turn. There was a lot of daylight directly in front of him, and this was helped even more by County Medical also closing in on the frontrunners. Anoush Command would stay on the rail for a while, but approaching the exit of the turn, he was not going to be able to do that any longer, and had to swing out into a three wide position. He seemed close to colliding with Declassified here, who was also moving forward just a bit, but he was able to make the move work. At the top of the stretch, he just under three lengths to make up on Fortaleza as he prepared to pass both County Medical and Ngannou. Declassified and Vengeful were making some gains, and Better Back Off was starting to pick it up now, with an outside move of his own.

(Finish- 2:01.20)- Fortaleza tried to do all he could to hold on to his lead, and it would be a valiant effort. However, Anoush Command was not one of the TC favorites for nothing, and his class would show in the stretch. He and Country Medical seemed to be matching strides for a little bit as they both closed in, but Anoush Command was not going to be denied here. That late push would be just enough to get him the victory, by a nose over Fortaleza, who got the headbob barely over County Medical. Ngannou hung around the best he could, and for that, he earns the fourth place check. Vengeful is fifth, over a dead heat for sixth between Dirty Kruz and Better Back Off, and then it was Declassified. Rounding out the order it’s Becket, Ronaldo Chop, Sheza Showgirl, Hollywood Dump, and Appreciate. Oh, and then eventually Warhead got there too.

About The Winner- Anoush Command, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by K J Desormeaux, is a three year old by Command Attention, and is out of Anoushka. He was bred in Ontario as a first quarter two year old by Serenity Stables, and acquired by Fractious in private sales for $950.000 in February 2020. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 12 starts, and it is his second stake win. His career earnings are now $1,515.200.

Track: Fast
Time: :47³  1:11¹  1:35²  2:01¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 11 Paid 34.10
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 11 – 3 Paid 613.70

Scratched: Disco Duck, Sky Dust, Stormin Charlie

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded