Luster beats the boys in King's Plate 2026 at Woodbine

Toronto

Trainer Josie Carroll and jockey John Velazquez knew Luster was special. They also knew she was not a dirt horse.

That knowledge collided on Saturday at Woodbine, where Luster won the King's Plate by 7 1/4 lengths at odds of 1-5. It was the largest margin of victory since Wando in 2003 at the shortest price since Alydeed in 1992.

Of the four Plate winners since 1991 who won by a larger margin than Luster, two went on to win the Canadian Triple Crown: Dance Smartly in 1991 and Wando. That is not in the cards for Luster, however, as Carroll said the Knicks Go filly will benefit from rest and is not really a dirt horse.

"Of course we'll talk to the owners, but the plan had always been to give her some time after this," Carroll said. "This kind don't come along too often. She's really special."

Carroll would know. This is her fourth Plate winner from 19 starters. Luster broke her maiden in her career debut on Plate weekend last year and was laid off until her 3-year-old debut in April at Keeneland, which is when Velazquez learned how good she was.

"I got off her and told (Carroll), 'I'll ride this filly anywhere,' " Velazquez said. He missed her loss in the Ruling Angel Stakes and her win in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes but reunited with her for the Woodbine Oaks. "When you ride good horses, they do what you want them to do and make me look good."

Luster is Velazquez's second Plate win from nine tries. He won on filly Wonder Gadot in 2018, and fillies have now won 40 Plates, including three of the last five.

Luster has won five of six races lifetime, with the lone loss coming when going seven furlongs in her synthetic debut second off the layoff in the Ruling Angel Stakes.

"Would it have been nice to have her undefeated? Yes," Carroll said. "But I told the owners that we had to go to (the Ruling Angel). The end goals were the Oaks and Plate, and I wanted to get her a race on the Tapeta rather than take her out of town again to find grass. I regret losing, but it led to this."

Out of town for turf is the likely path forward versus trying for the Canadian Triple Crown in the Prince of Wales Stakes on dirt at Fort Erie. Carroll said the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) in October at Keeneland is a possible target.

Carroll trains Luster for a partnership of Antony Beck's Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen. The filly was an $80,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale. Ravi Sugrim and Joannie Dass bred her in Ontario out of the The Factor mare Ruby Frost.

One horse definitely targeting the Prince of Wales is runner-up Military Time, who never really threatened Luster for the win but was much the best of the other 11 horses.

"I told Vinnie Viola and Gary Barber that we can beat the other males in the race, but we're going to have a tough time beating her, and that ended up being the case," Mark Casse said. Casse trains Military Time for a partnership of Viola's St. Elias Stable and Barber. "We kind of thought with (Military Time's) pedigree that he could be a dirt horse."