Frank Stronach said he will consider running Holy Helena in the Queen’s Plate.

After her performance in the Woodbine Oaks on Sunday, chances are we will see her on July 2 as the race favourite.



Ridden by Luis Contreras, Holy Helena relaxed nicely as part of a six-horse pack early in the race. The filly stayed within two lengths of the lead along the backstretch and was still tracking comfortably while racing on the inside around the turn.



At the quarter-pole, Contreras swung her wide as Mythical Mission took the lead from Enstone. Then deep in the lane, his persistence with his mount paid off as Holy Helena took the lead in deep stretch to win by a length.



“I got a nice trip but the filly helped me a lot,” Contreras said. “She was nice and comfortable and I was confident.”



“When I took her to the outside, she just gave me everything.”



Contreras was riding the daughter of Ghostzapper for the first time, but liked what he saw after working her out in the morning earlier in the week.



“She did it nice and easy,” Contreras said. “At that point I knew she was going to run a big race.”



Trained by Jimmy Jerkens, who also trains former Plate winner and current stable star Shaman Ghost for Stronach, Holy Helena is new to the racing game. She made her first start at Aqueduct in mid-April, finishing second in a maiden race. She then won her next start at Belmont on May 12, registering an 86 Beyer speed figure that exceeded any other runner in the 12-horse Oaks field. Despite being installed as the 3-1 morning-line favourite, she ended up being sent off at 6-1.



Stronach said he would like to see how Holy Helena comes out of the race before considering the Plate.



“The key is, how will she behave in the next few days,” he said. “We’ll think about it.”



Trainer Malcolm Pierce was very pleased with Mythical Mission, who likely will move to the turf July 30 for the Wonder Where Stakes.



“She couldn’t have done anything better but win,” Pierce said “She ran her eyeballs out today, we just got outrun the last few jumps. No excuses.”



Race favourite Inflexibility was third, nosing out Enstone.



THE BIG GUY



Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry, who have had horses named Sammy Maudlin and Johnny LaRue in their barn, now have a Queen’s Plate contender in another SCTV-inspired runner.



Guy Caballero scored a 20-1 upset win in the Plate Trial, defeating three highly-regarded Plate contenders in the process.



Ridden by Rafael Hernandez, Guy Caballero was taken to the back of the six-horse field early in the 1 1/8-mile race as State of Honor took early command. He was still last to the three-eighths pole but Hernandez began to swing him outside. In the stretch, he did his best work on the outside while King and His Court made a move on the rail. But with the clearer path, he surged ahead late to win by a neck.



“He’s got a long stride and he’s going to finish,” Hernandez said. “He finishes hard and he tries all the time.”



A son of Quality Road, Guy Caballero was fifth to King and His Court in the Coronation Futurity and third to the same rival in the Display Stakes.



“He had been training well but hadn’t raced recently against these kind of horses,” trainer Catherine Day Phillips said.



He was second in his 2017 debut last month.



Trainer Mark Casse said he thought King and His Court was lacking his big kick in the race, but said State of Honor, who was given a rest after finishing last in the Kentucky Derby, should improve off the race.



Plate winterbook favourite Tiz a Slam finished fourth.



WIN MACHINE



Despite coming into the $100,000 Alywow Stakes with a record of eight wins in 10 starts, Queen Del Valle was sent off at odds of 13-1. But the three-year-old filly proved any doubters wrong, winning the 6 ½-furlong turf sprint by a half-length with Edgard Zayas aboard for trainer Reid Nagle.



Queen Del Valle, who before Sunday had raced exclusively in Florida and had only a small stakes win on her card, broke from the gate quickly in the Alywow but settled behind Will She. In the stretch. Will She held on to the lead until Queen Del Valle finally wore her down with about 50 yards left and prevailed by a half-length.

HAT TRICK

Pink Lloyd captured his third consecutive stakes win on Saturday, taking the $125,000 Achievement Stakes. Ridden by Eurico Rosa da Silva for trainer Bob Tiller, Pink Lloyd took command immediately at the start of the six-furlong race and comfortably scored a 5¼-length win.

Pink Lloyd had previously won the Jacques Cartier and New Providence Stakes.

