By Ben Massam
Trainer Josie Carroll and owner Ivan Dalos have two big shots to capture Sunday's 157th running of the Queen's Plate S. at Woodbine with multiple graded stakes-winning filly Gamble's Ghost (Ghostzapper) and once-beaten Amis Gizmo (Giant Gizmo), recent winner of the nine-furlong Plate Trial June 12. Despite their seemingly formidable resumes, Carroll acknowledges that both Dalos homebreds have been works in progress thanks to their unique–but equally challenging–running styles.
In the case of Amis Gizmo, the chestnut rattled off four straight wins in the span of three months to complete an undefeated juvenile campaign in 2015. Turned out at Wavertree in Ocala following a wire-to-wire win in the restricted 1 1/16-mile Kingarvie S. Nov. 28, Carroll said that her team has invested significant time and energy toward getting the naturally speedy colt to relax since his tiring fifth-place finish in the Wando S. Apr. 24.
“Through his 2-year-old career, he had been pretty forwardly placed in all his races and he was gradually getting more and more aggressive,” Carroll said on an NTRA Teleconference Tuesday afternoon. “Our concern, with the aim being a mile and a quarter, was getting him off the bridle. In the mornings, Luis Contreras and myself worked quite a bit at getting him to relax a little bit. It really kind of came to fruition in the Plate Trial. He dropped the bit, and when he did pick it up, he just exploded.”
If the ability to relax in the early stages of a race is a concern for Amis Gizmo, Carroll essentially has the opposite concern about stablemate Gamble's Ghost. The dark bay burst onto the scene with a rousing last-to-first score in her Aug. 14 debut and has employed a similar late-running style ever since, including a pair of wins in the GIII Mazarine S. last October and the GIII Selene S. May 15. She recently endured a trip that was rife with trouble in the June 12 Woodbine Oaks and still managed to run second, beaten just a nose, by Neshama (Sligo Bay {Ire}).
“I thought she showed so much talent, particularly in that last race,” Carroll said of Gamble's Ghost. “She had a very troubled trip, got knocked around and cut up a bit from being stepped on. Then, it looked like she was going to get there and another horse came out and bothered her. So despite all that, she just kept on trying. She's a tenacious filly…. She's just a competitor. Her style is kind of hard on us, she's a deep-closing filly. She likes to just go along easy and then when she takes off, she really takes off. It could put her in a jackpot.”
Given that jockey Luis Contreras has served as the regular pilot for both horses since their career debuts, it has yet to be officially announced who he will ride Sunday. Carroll said that the decision would be left up to Contreras, who has indicated to her that he is leaning towards riding Amis Gizmo. Patrick Husbands will obtain the vacant mount.
With two runners that have required significant work and patience to reach their spot in the Plate starting gate, Carroll was eager to praise owner Dalos for his firm yet understanding attitude as an owner and breeder.
“He's a very patient man, and he usually has a plan in mind of what he'd like you to accomplish, and then he leaves it to you to get the job done, which certainly makes life easier,” Carroll concluded.
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