No Manitoba-bred racehorse has ever won the King’s Plate. That could change Saturday at Woodbine in the 167^th running of the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Brachetto is the 5-1 second choice on the morning line for the 1 ¼-mile race held on Woodbine’s all-weather Tapeta Footings track with two wins in three races this season. He enters the $1 million King’s Plate off an 18.30-1 upset victory in the $150,000 Marine Stakes June 27 on the Tapeta track at Woodbine.

The 1 1/16-mile Marine was the bay Vekoma colt’s first try in a graded stakes race as well as his first race around two turns after making each of his four prior starts in sprint races between three-quarters of a mile and seven-eighths of a mile.

Brachetto wins the 2026 Marine Stakes. (Michael Burns/Woodbine)

“It was his first time going long. He relaxed beautifully, rated really nice, and came on with determination,” trainer Julia Carey said. “He’s very well behaved. He doesn’t do anything wrong. They did a good job breaking him over in Manitoba.”

“Breaking” in horse racing parlance refers to the process of training a young horse to wear a bridle and saddle, carry a rider, and respond to a rider’s commands, and Brachetto learned his early lessons in Manitoba where he was bred by Dr. Ross A. McKague.

McKague met his wife, Brenda, with whom he owns Brachetto, at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and they were married in 1971. He graduated from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, and the McKagues have raced horses since 1976.

Ross McKague is a founding member of the Manitoba Jockey Club who earlier this year became just the third recipient of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s award for breeding for 50 years. The McKagues typically name their horses after grapes used to make wine – red wine grapes for dark bay or brown and bay horses and white grapes for chestnut and gray or roan horses. Brachetto, a bay, is named after a red Italian wine grape found primarily in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy.

Carey said everything has gone well for Brachetto since the Marine Stakes. She’s pleased with his preparation for the most important race of his life.

“He’s acting well, eating well, and travelling well. He loves to train,” Carey said. “I can’t seem to do enough work with him. He’s not a real big, tall horse, but he’s a very well-built horse.

“He’s very chill. Hopefully, it works to his advantage on the big day.”

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Woodbine Oaks Presented by Stella Artois winner Luster is the odds-on favorite on the morning line for the King’s Plate. She has won four of five career starts but has never competed against males and will be stretching out to 1 ¼ miles for the first time. Should either variable prove too difficult a task for Luster, the King’s Plate is anyone’s race.

Why not Manitoba-bred Brachetto?

Brachetto will be Carey’s second starter in the King’s Plate – Reservoir finished 11^th in 2009 – and this time feels different.

“It feels like the first time because this time we’ve got a bit of a chance,” the trainer explained. “I’m trying to keep cool as the horse is. Don’t get too excited. Keep it focused, just keep on track, and don’t start getting all excited that you got to do this and do that and everything else, when it’s not necessary.”

Brachetto appears to be taking everything in stride and, of course, has no idea that he’ll be carrying the weight of Manitoba along with jockey Ryan Munger in the saddle Saturday.

“It’s a big day, there’ll be a lot of excitement in the air. So far, he hasn’t shown to me that [the King’s Plate atmosphere] will get him all riled up,” Carey said. “Keeping him chill is hopefully going to help us.”