Page 15 - June 2007 The Game

Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper The Game, June 2007 15
A look back in time: The 1982 Queen’s Plate A “Storied” Affair
By Gary Poole
The 1982 Queen’s Plate, exactly a quarter century ago, had more than its fair share of intrigue, drama and twists and turns to the plot. The day is sure to be remembered for a spectacular spill in which three horses went down. Another the fourth place finisher, Icy Circle, was disqualified for causing the accident. There were many more storylines to the race than just that unfortunate incident.
Interest in the Plate starts building at the beginning of the year when a new crop of three year olds enter the stage. At that time in 1982 victory was all but conceded to Deputy Minister. This colt was not only Canada’s, but North America’s, champion two year of 1981. However, he was soon knocked out of contention with an injury. The fight to be pre-race favorite was then taken up by two flashy runners, Windfields Farm’s Brave Regent and Jean-Louis Levesque’s Le Danseur.
They battled it out in the preliminary bouts. Brave Regent won the first two rounds, the Queenston and Marine Stakes before falling victim to both Le Danseur and injury in the final major prep, the Plate Trial. That left Levesque’s colt the solid choice on race day, but there was a problem. He had a developing tendon bow. That
made him a very iffy and vulnerable prospect, certainly not worth his fifty cents on the dollar status in the pari-mutuel pool. He ended up running a courageous third despite a career ending full bow.
There’s quite a story to the two runners that beat him to the wire that day. The winner was Paddockhurst Stable’s Son of Briartic. He was a top two year old of the previous year and a victor in the grassy Toronto Cup in late May. Shockingly he wasn’t even eligible to run in the Plate three days prior to the race. He had been a lame scratch, due to a popped splint, from his planned prep, an allowance event the week before. He only came off the vet’s list two days before the running. That’s when entries were taken. The public was skeptical. Son of Briartic was let go at 8-1. He was a month without a start, yet managed to do what few Plate winners have accomplished. He wired the field. The ten furlong run took a toll on him. He never won again until late autumn.
The second place finisher went in the opposite direction exiting the big race. Albert Coppola’s Runaway Groom was dismissed in the tote at 38-1 because he had only four prior starts, all sprints. He belied his odds, coming from eighteenth and last at the first call to end a clear second. The race
was his launch pad to stardom. He came back to win the Prince of Wales Stakes, second jewel in Canada’s Triple Crown, leaving Son of Briartic in third place.
Then Runaway Groom set his sights on much bigger game. He shipped south to Saratoga for the historic Travers Stakes. There he met the three different winners of the U.S. Triple Crown events that year. They were Derby hero Gato del Sol, Preakness champ Aloma’s Ruler and Belmont victor and anointed superhorse, Conquistador Cielo. Runaway Groom sat well back of a vicious pace duel under Hamilton Ontario native Jeff Fell. He then stormed down the stretch to score one of the most startling upsets in the history of the track nicknamed the graveyard of favorites. His race that afternoon ranks as one of the greatest performances ever by a Canadian runner.
He then returned to Woodbine to take the Breeders’ Stakes, final leg of this country’s Triple Crown. In doing so he earned the title of Canada’s three year old champion. While some regarded his Travers win as a pace- aided fluke, Runaway Groom went on to prove his quality by his performance at stud. His offspring have amassed over $54 million worldwide and they include champion and Breeders’ Cup winner
Cherokee Run.
What lesson can we take from the 1982
Queen’s Plate? Anyone who watched Son of Briartic dominate proceedings from start to finish knew on that day he delivered a superlative effort. He spotted a race recency edge to all seventeen of his rivals and was charted as needing only intermittent urging to prevail. He won the most important race in the country for his peers but where did he rank as a member of the sophomore class of 1982?
This was one outstanding bunch of three year olds. Deputy Minister and Runaway Groom were clearly the best of their age group. Deputy Minister would naturally have to be rated on his performances when sound at ages two and four. Le Danseur and Brave Regent if they hadn’t been plagued by injuries, might have given Son of Briartic all he could handle in Canada’s classic race. An impartial observer would place the Paddockhurst colt no better than third and no worse than fifth amongst his contemporaries.
In racing timing is everything. While others may have had more innate class, Son of Briartic ran the race of his life at precisely the right time and wrote his name in the record books as a Queen’s Plate champion.
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