Maiden Vaughan a Late Addition to Queen's Plate 2017

The well-bred maiden Vaughan is a late, but welcome, addition to the 158th running of The Queen’s Plate for trainer John Mattine and owner RCC Racing Stable Ltd. A victory in Sunday’s Queen’s Plate would mark the first score by a maiden since Scatter the Gold in 2000.

Mattine recalls another famous maiden Plate winner, Golden Choice, who captured Canada’s race in 1986 when the conditioner was helping his father, Tony, saddle In The East to be fourth.  He knows Vaughan will be a price on Sunday, but he has faith in his rising star.

“We’re a maiden running in The Queen’s Plate, but it’s been done before. Golden Choice was actually in the barn next to us back in 1986 with trainer Mike Tammaro,” recalled Mattine.

With just two starts to his name, Vaughan finished seventh on debut when sprinting six furlongs on the Woodbine main on June 4.  He came back just two weeks later and improved to be third when travelling 1 1/16-miles over a yielding turf course.

“Everybody might say it’s a stretch but he’s improved each start. The first start he walked out of the gate and the second start was an improvement. If he improves his numbers a little bit more he’ll be there,” said Mattine.

Formerly named Conquest Zipped Up, Mattine and company purchased the City Zip colt, out of the 2010 broodmare of the year Destroy, in November at the Conquest Stables dispersal sale.  

“We got him for $17,000 at the dispersal sale,” noted Mattine. “We changed the name to Vaughan. I grew up in Vaughan and I like the new name a lot.”

What he lacks in racing experience, he more than makes up for in pedigree being a sibling of multiple graded stakes winner Smokey Fire and the multiple stakes winners Utterly Cool and Ghost Fleet.

“The second dam is Eternal Search, I don’t need to say anything more,” noted Mattine of Eternal Search who won a Sovereign Award as the Canadian Champion Sprinter for 1981 as well as being named Canadian Champion Older Mare in 1982 and 1983. “When we bought him, the only page they showed was the first dam but if you look a little bit deeper it’s a very nicely bred horse, bred by the late Mel Lawson.”