The Canadian Kentucky Derby

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Canada`s Kentucky Derby

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The pickpocket shuffle, Single file like good Canadians, And, Oh no, not bourbon.

Woodbine racetrack was packed to the rafters this Sunday to see 15 of Canada’s finest three-year-old horses on display for the stunned, drunken throngs. The 149th running of the Queen’s Plate lived up to the hype and excitement that always comes with Ontario bred horse racing and for the first time in recent memory there was still people lining up, single file like good Canadians, as far as the eye could see, the betting favourites had run one, two and everybody except me had a ticket to cash. This is an aberration at best, usually following a major race that has managed to attract the casual fan, the hustle, bustle and heart beat of the same casual fan vanishes as quickly as the hopes of my 33 to 1 shot in the lane.

The line-up’s where a problem, as they always are at these major racing events but I must say I was reasonably surprised by the reaction of Woodbine. All hands where on deck, management worked steadfastly to see that less experienced staff where not trapped by the inevitable "window monsters" who monopolize the tellers time causing long-jams and line-up delays that would irritate even the most patient patrons.

Waiting in line to bet on the Queen’s Plate has become such a yearly staple for me that I have even met and capitalized on a significant business contacts through the exasperating time lapse. This year my experience was vastly different, I encountered two of the many petty thieves that must flock to these types of event looking to pounce on the hopeless mass but I was not fooled. Bumped, Knocked and boxed in by his stunning accomplice the pickpocket had chosen me as his mark. I listened intently as he rattled off on his cell phone about this horses chances or that owners record but just when his silver tongue had almost lured me in, I removed my wallet to count my ducats and prepare for my time at the betting window.......

At this point in the proceeding there is no tuning back, less than five minutes until the Post time and everyone is anxious to make a wager, the lines are rammed, the crowd is pitched and the horses are going into the starting gate.

.......As I remove a couple twenty from my wallet I notice that the man and woman team that was so eagerly crowding me at the back of the line has simply given up. I slam down my money, bark out my wager and make a b-line for the track.

And that’s when I relived that the fast talker and his well-clad companion where in fact pickpockets. When I walked away from the tellers-window there was nobody behind me, I almost though that the race had already started but a look first to my left then to my right revealed two still flowing lines on either side of me.

The man and his partner had disappeared before making even a single wager on the ANNUAL race and thanks to the alleged pickpockets in-depth telephone conversation I was all too aware that he had made no prior wager.

Paranoid or Practical the wallet in the hand trick saved me a couple hundred dollars, so be my guest and hijack the practical or paranoid to keep you safe in the crowd.

Race winning colt Not Bourdon became the eighth horse too win the Queen’s Plate under the training of horse-racing hall of famer and all around class act Roger Attfield.

Mr Attfield has now acquired a Queen’s Plate winner in 4 consecutive decades starting first with Norcliffe (1976) and concluding with Not Bourbon (2008)

Market Control (1987), With Approval (1989), Izvestia (1990), Alydeed (1992), Peteski (1993), and Regal Discovery (1995) round out the list of Champions trained to Queen’s Plate victories by a true living legend, Roger Attfield.

Zoltan Black