Plate all Gussied up
Wando wins it in a runaway
By ROB LONGLEY -- Toronto Sun
Wando's lead was lengthening with every stride in the dusty Woodbine stretch and Gus Schickedanz was ready to burst.
Family and friends were jumping and screaming around him as the result of the 144th Queen's Plate was no longer an issue.
So the colourful owner and breeder put his binoculars to his side and let the joy spill out.
"Go, go, go, go," he shouted when the apple of his eye opened up five lengths as the field wheeled off the turn.
Then six, seven, eight and finally at the wire, nine lengths the best in one of the most devastating displays in Canada's most cherished race.
As if that wasn't good enough for the 74-year-old, who has survived a handful of strokes, his other horse, Mobil, edged Rock Again for second.
"This is a wonderful day for us," said an elated Schickedanz, who seconds after Wando crossed the wire, embraced his long-time farm manager Lauri Kenny in a hug that had to hurt. "One-two, what more can I say?"
Wando said it loudest -- period and exclamation point.
As Patrick Husbands rode him with the utmost confidence, the time of 2:02 2/5 for the mile and a quarter was the sixth fastest in the Plate's long history.
The winning margin was the fifth biggest, but could have been much more if Husbands had so much as asked the easy-striding chestnut colt for more.
After taking the lead mere jumps from the start, Wando didn't let another horse get within a length. Several times during the race, Husbands glanced over his right shoulder to see if anyone was gaining.
In the process, he became the Plate's first wire-to-wire winner since the most recent Canadian Triple Crown champ Peteski won the opening stop a decade ago.
"I just had to turn him loose and let him run," said the reigning king of the Woodbine jockey's colony, who pumped the air like a windmill as he crossed the line for his first Plate win. "From the three-quarter pole, he just galloped. The smart people on the backstretch knew this horse was the winner."
The only ones who weren't sure, apparently, were jockey Todd Kabel and winning trainer Mike Keogh.
Given the choice between the two talents, Kabel opted for Mobil. As recently as yesterday morning, Keogh still wondered if Wando had enough stamina for the Plate distance.
Husbands and the bettors had it figured out, however, as Wando flew out of the gate as the slight post-time favourite. He returned a slim $4.80 as he won for the third consecutive time and rewarded his devoted owner with the $600,000 winner's share from the $1-million purse.
Though he gladly would have taken a win with either son of Langfuhr, Schickedanz is clearly most smitten with Wando.
As he built a prolific breeding operation at his farm near Schomberg over the past couple of decades, one of his favourite broodmares was Wando's mother, Kathie's Colleen. Schickedanz still treats her as a pet and loves to spend time with her at the farm.
"(Schickedanz) really deserved it," Keogh said. "He's put a lot into this business and it's been great for his health. It's helped him along."
So, too, has Keogh, a native of Epsom, England, who learned here under the dean of Queen's Plate trainers, seven-time winner Roger Attfield.
Keogh and Schickedanz have teamed for two Plate wins in the past four years with Wando's bauble ready to join 1999 champ Woodcarver's in the bulging trophy case.
So, what did the two men say when they embraced in the sun-baked winner's circle in front of a packed grandstand on a glorious afternoon?
"He thanked me very much," Keogh said. "And I thanked him for the horses."
