Hockey Legend Gordie Howe At The Queen's Plate Post-Position Draw

Hockey legend Gordie Howe drew the post-positions for Sunday's Queen's Plate earlier this morning at Woodbine racetrack. In an illustrious professional hockey career that spanned five decades, Howe coined his very own triple known as the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" marked by scoring a goal, recording an assist and getting in a fight all in one game. This Sunday, 14 horses will look to start their own triple in the 150th running of the Queen's Plate, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Track Announcer Dan Loiselle Interviews Detroit's infamous #9

Howe played in the NHL for a record 26 seasons scoring 801 goals and 1,049 assists en route to four Stanley Cup championships. "Mr. Hockey", as Howe is known, has a past performance chart that lists several track records including most NHL regular season games played with 1,767. At the age of 52, Howe was the oldest player to play in the NHL and when you tally up Howe's WHA statistics, Mr. Hockey was the first player to score over 1000 professional goals . Howe is an officer of of the Order of Canada and in 2008 became the first recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award. If there was a Beyer figure for hockey players, Howe's number would be off the charts.

Rapid Release will try to win Queen's Plate #9 for Roger Attfield


Perhaps the most telling of all Howe's statistics is this - Gordie Howe finished top five in scoring for twenty consecutive seasons. While anoraks may sit back and debate the eras of hockey players, Howe stands the test of time because he played through the eras and rose to the top of his profession at each calling. Howe performed so well for so long that not only did he have a starring role as part of a high-scoring unit known as "The Production Line" with Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay in the 1949-50 season, but Howe was still a Red Wings franchise face in 1968-69 playing on a line with Alex Delvecchio and Frank Mahovlich that became known as "The Production Line 3." This loyalty, longevity and commitment to excellence is otherworldly and unthinkable in today's sporting environment.

Tyler Pizarro Will Ride Bucephalus From Post Position #9


Sunday's Queen's Plate will prompt praise of a new Canadian legend but few athletes, equine or otherwise, will ever equal the measure of success carved out by Gordie "Mr. Hockey" Howe.

Jockey Jim McAleney is one of many who look up to Gordie Howe


Here is the field for Sunday's event. More quotes and a preview to follow.

PP/HORSE/OWNER/TRAINER/JOCKEY/ODDS

1/El Brujo/Windways Farm/Malcolm Pierce/Emma-Jayne Wilson/15-1
2/Flip for the Coin/Molinaro Stable/Vito Armata/Emile Ramsammy/30-1
3/Active Duty/Woodford Racing/Mark Casse/Corey Fraser/20-1
4/Milwaukee Appeal (f)/C.E.C. Farms/Scott Fairlie/Stewart Elliott/3-1
5/Mr. Foricos Two U/Annecchini & D'Alimonte/Catherine Day Phillips/Mike Smith/15-1
6/Reservoir/Goldie Stables and Weila Ye/Julia Carey/Jim McAleney/20-1
7/Eye Of The Leopard/Sam-Son Farm/Mark Frostad/Eurico Rosa da Silva/7-2
8/Rapid Release/Dolantori Racing/Roger Attfield/Jono Jones/8-1
9/Bucephalus/Knob Hill Stable/Kevin Attard/Tyler Pizarro/30-1
10/Stardust Ziggy/UN Stable/Lorna Perkins/Jerry Baird/20-1
11/Tasty Temptation (f)/Woodford Racing/Mark Casse/Patrick Husbands/4-1
12/Shut It Down/K.K. Sangara/Lorne Richards/Russell Baze/20-1
13/Keino West/Track West Racing/Steve Attard/Gerry Olguin/15-1