Jesse Campbell rides Midnight Aria on his way to winning the 154th Queen's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto on Sunday, July 7, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
July 07, 2013 - 2:55 PM
TORONTO - Midnight Aria took the lead from the start and held on capture a wet 154th running of the $1-million Queen's Plate on Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack.
Midnight Aria, at 16-1 odds, was first out of the gate in light rain, then held off a determined late charge from 8-5 favourite Up With the Birds to claim the $600,000 winner's share with a time of 2:04.72 in the 1/14-mile race.
Dynamic Sky was third in the 12-horse field in the first jewel of Canadian thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown and North American's oldest continuously run stakes race.
Governor General David Johnston couldn't escape the wet stuff as it started coming down shortly after he arrived at Woodbine in a Rolls Royce convertible.
And the deluge forced the $200,000 Highlander Stakes off the turf and to the polytrack but it had no impact on the Plate, which was run on the synthetic surface.
The second race in the Triple Crown is the $500,000 Prince of Wales States slated for Fort Erie, Ont., on July 30.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013