Holder, Attard Carry Momentum Into The King's Plate

Ted Holder and Kevin Attard began training in Canada about the same time, around the turn of the century.

Since then, Attard's stable has risen to become one of the strongest in Canada, capped by a yearly-best 2022 in which his horses won 95 races and more than $5.3 million, topped by a prestigious victory in The Queen's Plate at Woodbine with Moira .

Holder also experienced a career year in 2022, winning 11 races and $335,286 with a stable of mostly low or mid-level runners, with the trainer having persisting from career setbacks that left him with only four starters from 2009-2017.

On Aug. 20, Canadian-bred 3-year-olds for the two horsemen will meet when they race in the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, renamed from The Queen's Plate to The King's Plate this year in honor of the current British monarch. Not since 1951 has this race been run as The King's Plate owing to the long reign of Queen Elizabeth II, who died this past September.

Attard has one of the deepest lineups in the history of the Plate, a race that began in 1860. He starts five horses, mostly longshots: Enjoythesilent , Moon Landing , Phillip My Dear, Wickenheiser , and Velocitor —who vary in price from 12-1 to 30-1 on the morning line.

The Holder-trained Kaukokaipuu  is more of a favorite, the 6-1 third choice in the forecasted betting, trailing only 3-1 Kalik , trained by Chad Brown, and 4-1 Stanley House , trained by Mike De Paulo.

Watch: Led by Kaukokaipuu, Holder's Training Career on Rise

Though Holder runs only one in the Plate, one is all that can be needed when starting the right horse. Attard ran simply Moira last year when he won the Plate with his 11th starter in the race.

Holder, 54, says Kaukokaipuu is "by far" the best horse he has ever trained. The gray Mr Speaker   colt provided Holder with the first stakes win of his training career when he won the restricted Queenston Stakes at Woodbine June 11, a race that preceded a second-place finish in the Marine Stakes (G3) in open company.

The 3-year-old returns to Canadian-bred company in the CA $1 million King's Plate. Holder said running in the historic race "means the world to me, a lifelong dream."

The longtime Canadian resident said he watched his first Plate in 1989 from the Woodbine backstretch.

"I watched With Approval (win) from across the bleachers over there," he said of a viewing area bordering the E.P. Taylor Turf course. "I always dreamed that someday I'd be there" in the Plate.

Now he is—only five years since resuming training, having persevered from years in which he may not have won a race or even started a horse. 

"There was grass to cut. There were houses to build. There were lots of things to do in between," Holder reflected. "I didn't mind working. My average day used to be 18-19 hours. I didn't mind doing that as long as I can eat and feed my family."

Kaukokaipuu is 2-7-0 in 11 starts, having made $224,413 for Culpepper Island Syndicate, which is comprised of a group of family members and friends from various countries. Holder formed the syndicate after he bought the colt for only $10,000 from the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale.

Kaukokaipuu is a Finnish word referring to wanderlust—a longing to go to a place never visited. Appropriately, the horse is also taking Holder and Culpepper Island Syndicate to the long-desired destination—the starting gate in The King's Plate.

Opportunities from some of his current owners and friends helped put him on his ongoing trajectory of success, Holder noted.

"The wins just kept coming," he said. "The business took some changes in terms of horse racing. The exotic drugs got cleaned out of the business, and horsemanship started showing, and I always considered myself to be a pretty decent horseman. That has helped me along the way."

On Sunday, he will team with jockey and fellow Barbados native Rico Walcott, whose own story is inspiring. An eight-time leading rider in Alberta, Walcott was sidelined in the spring of 2019 for surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor. He is now a regular among the Woodbine jockey colony, having won with 18 of 127 mounts through Aug. 18 to place 11th in the local standings.

Walcott got going on King's Plate weekend by winning the King Edward Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine Aug. 19 on the Norman McKnight-trained War Bomber .

"He's got better numbers that I do; I got to take a gamble on him," Holder said of his initial decision to ride Walcott, who has won a 24% rate over his 1,542-win career.

As for Attard, he seeks to become the first trainer to win the Plate in consecutive years since Mark Frostad did so with Scatter the Gold and Dancethruthedawn in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

On Sunday he starts reigning Plate winner and Canadian Horse of the Year Moira in the Dance Smartly Stakes (G2T) before running his five 3-year-olds in this year's Plate.

"We definitely are a little bit deeper this year. We're not kinda holding one of the favorites," Attard said before adding that he is optimistic about the way his horses have trained up to the 1 1/4-mile race on Tapeta.

Watch: Attard Discusses Success of Fillies in King's Plate and His Filly Wickenheiser

Attard is a co-owner in a filly that bettors view as the trainer's best chance—Woodbine Oaks runner-up Wickenheiser. The Lemon Drop Kid  filly, a half sister to 2020 Queen's Plate runner-up and Breeders' Sales winner Belichick , races for Clay Scherer, Al and Bill Ulwelling, and Attard.

Sean Fitzhenry bred both Kaukokaipuu and Wickenheiser, and Keith Lancaster consigned them as yearlings.

"I kind of tinker here and there—I own less now that I kinda have a bigger stable. Sometimes you have to invest in yourself to prove yourself," Attard said of ownership. 

He said he was approached about investing in the $245,000 purchase from the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and was drawn to her bloodlines.

"With her pedigree and with the goal of the Oaks and the King's Plate, I felt it was a worthy investment and that her residual value at the end of the road would at least return my investment, and have a little fun in the process," he said.

-Editor's Note: BloodHorse's on-track coverage of King's Plate Weekend is partially funded with travel provided by Woodbine.