By Canadian Press

Safe Conduct holds off Riptide Rock to win the 162nd Queen’s Plate

Aug 22, 2021 | 4:59 PM

TORONTO — Safe Conduct has won the 162nd running of the $1-million Queen’s Plate.

A photo finish determined Safe Conduct, the 3-1 favourite, held off a late charge from Riptide Rock down the stretch to pick up the win and the $600,000 main prize.

H C Holiday finished third on Woodbine’s 1 1/4-mile Tapeta course.

Safe Conduct’s victory made a winner of jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in his Queen’s Plate debut. A three-time Eclipse Award winner as top jockey (2018-20), Ortiz is an 11-time Breeders’ Cup winner and rode Creator to victory in the 2016 Belmont.

The result also denied a Queen’s plate title to the Attard family, which has ties to six of the 13 horses that competed in the race.

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Kevin Attard, who is still looking for his first Queen’s Plate victory as a trainer, had HC Holiday, 2021 Woodbine Oaks winner Munnyfor Ro, Haddassah and Harlan Estate in the field.

Keep Grinding, who was installed as the early 4/1 favourite at the Queen’s Plate draw on Wednesday, is owned by Attard’s son, Joshua, and trained by his father, Tino. And Kevin Attard’s uncle, Sid, conditions Riptide Rock.

Fans were back in the stands for the iconic race after not being allowed at Woodbine Racetrack for the 2020 edition due to COVID-19 protocols.

Around 5,000 tickets were sold for Sunday’s race. Upwards of 35,000 spectators have attended The Queen’s Plate in past years.

The Queen’s Plate, the opening jewel of the OLG Canadian Triple Crown, is the longest continuously run Thoroughbred stakes race in North America.

The second leg of the Triple Crown, the $400,0000 Prince of Wales Stakes, goes Sept.14 at the Fort Erie Race Track.

The final leg is the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes on Oct. 3 at Woodbine.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2021.

The Canadian Press