WE MISS ARTIE TOPS QUEENS PLATE FIELD Ken and Sarah Ramseys We Miss Artie, winner of the Plate Trial on June 15, has been installed as the 8-5 morning line choice in a field of 15 for the $1 million Queens Plate, Canadas most famous horse race, Sunday at Woodbine. The 155th edition of the Plate for Canadian-foaled three-year-olds, the oldest continuously run stakes race in North America, will be televised live on TSN in HD (High Definition) in a special presentation from 4:30 – 6:00 pm ET. Post time is 5:38 pm. The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Right Honourable David C. Onley, will be the Royal Guest of Honour. All starters carry 126 pounds, except the lone filly Lexie Lou, who will tote 121 pounds for the mile and one-quarter classic over Woodbines Polytrack. The winner will receive $600,000. At the Queens Plate breakfast on Thursday morning, the selection order for post positions was drawn first via the traditional pill-pull, followed by the choosing of post positions by the connections for each horse, a system which has been in place for the Plate since 1998. We Miss Artie (PP6, 8-5), trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Javier Castellano, proved a comfortable winner of the Trial by three-quarters of a length over Majestic Sunset, his first outing at Woodbine and his first start since a 10th place finish, just eight and one-quarter lengths behind California Chrome in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3. Hell try to become the 26th Plate Trial winner since 1944 to win the Plate, the last being Big Red Mike in 2010. "I think my horse ran really well (in the Trial)," said owner Ken Ramsey, after choosing post six with the second selection. "(Jockey Javier) Castellano said he was saving himself for the Queens Plate. Hes doing exceptionally well (at Saratoga)." For More on the Plate field, click here: http://weg.bz/1qTCwcJ EIGHTY NINE RED SURPRISES IN ACHIEVEMENT There were only five horses in the co-featured $150,000 Achievement Stakes, Saturday at Woodbine. And Eighty Nine Red was the longest price of the bunch, sent postward a 16-1 outsider. No problem. Ridden by Jesse Campbell for trainer Mike DePaulo, Eighty Nine Red, tucked along the rail, stalked the pace of favoured Flashy Margaritta, then came out turning for home and prevailed in a stretch drive, taking the six furlong event for Ontario-bred three-year-olds by one length in 1:10.28. Flashy Margaritta, who had cranked out reasonable fractions of :22.97 and :45.67, held on for place, while Spadina Road closed for third. Owned by John Russell and George Schramm, the son of Bold Executive-Timeless Silver had opened his 2014 campaign in style, easily winning a five furlong allowance contest. But after a third place finish to Speightsong in the seven furlong Queenston, then a seventh place finish to Flashy Margaritta in the turf, six furlong Bold Ruckus, Eighty Nine Red returned to the Polytrack and prevailed. "I was a little worried going into the (far) turn. It was pretty tight. (Jockey) Patrick (Husbands, aboard Flashy Margaritta) was doing his job, doing what I would have done," said Campbell. "I loved the way this horse responded today. I had high hopes for this horse all along. He put it all together today. He really ran a good race." Eighty Nine Red had been kept eligible for the Queens Plate but his connections decided to shorten him up. Added DePaulo, "Jesse did a great job. The horse ran on and we got it done. Being by Bold Executive, there havent been too many who have run that far (the Queens Plate distance of a mile and one-quarter). Hopefully hell make a real good sprinter for us." Eighty Nine Red paid $34.90, $9.90 and $3.30, combining with Flashy Margaritta ($3.50, $2.20) for a $119.80 (1-2) exactor. A 1-2-5 (Spadina Road, $2.70) triactor was worth $287.40. STACKED DECK ACES THE CHARLIE BARLEY Bruce Lunsfords homebred Stacked Deck, with Chantal Sutherland-Kruse, made his seasonal debut a winning one, hanging on to defeat Speightsland in the co-featured $100,000 Charlie Barley Stakes, Saturday at Woodbine. The one mile tilt on the lawn for three-year-olds drew an excellent field of nine, with Speightsong, the Queenston Stakes winner and multiple stakes winner Jose Sea View vying for favouritism. Dismissed at 14-1, Stacked Deck, trained by Barb Minshall, stalked the pacesetting Tuscan Getaway until the turn into the long E.P. Taylor Turf Course stretch. The now gelded son of First Samurai-Bel Air Beauty took over in mid-stretch, opened a length, then was all out to hold off another longshot, 16-1 Speightland, for the nose victory in 1:33.45. Florida Won was a close third, a length behind. Tuscan Getaway had set all the fractions over a lightning fast turf course, :22.99, :45.42, and 1:09.10, while being pursued by Stacked Deck, before giving way."Thankfully my horse had something left over," said Sutherland-Kruse. "The plan wasnt really to be that close. We were hoping for a stalking trip. We broke well. I didnt think he had much left turning for home, but he kind of foolS you." Added owner Bruce Lunsford, who also raced the sire and the dam, "Barbara did a tremendous job bringing this horse back. To win this race off the bench after we couldnt get an allowance race to go, we think weve got big things ahead of us with this horse." "Hes a great horse," said Minshall. "Hes a smart horse, so clever." Stacked Deck had three starts last year, two on the grass, but he broke his maiden in his final outing over Woodbines Polytrack. POST / HORSE / TRAINER / OWNER / JOCKEY 1 / Cap in Hand / Sid Attard / Tucci Stables / Steven Bahen2 / Coltimus Prime / Justin Nixon / Cabernet Racing Stables / Jesse Campbell3 / Athenian Guard / Mike DePaulo / A & L Racing Stables / Omar Moreno4 / Asserting Bear / Reade Baker / Bear Stables / Chantal Sutherland-Kruse5 / Man o Bear / Reade Baker / Bear Stables / Emma-Jayne Wilson6 / We Miss Artie / Todd Pletcher / Ken & Sarah Ramsey / Javier Castellano7 / Majestic Sunset / Mark Casse / John Oxley / Gary Boulanger8 / Lions Bay / Jamie Attard / M. N. V. & J. Earle / David MoraN9 / Heart to Heart / Brian Lynch / Terry Hamilton / Eurico Rosa da Silva10 / Matador / Mark Casse / John Oxley / Julien Leparoux11 / One Destiny / Alec Fehr /Winston Penny & Alec Fehr / Justin Stein12 / Tower of Texas / Roger Attfield / Thomas Van Meter II & Scott Dilworth / John Velazquez13 / Niigon Express / Paul Attard / Chiefswood Stable / Gerry Olguin14 / Lexie Lou / Mark Casse / Gary Barber / Patrick Husbands15 / Amis Holiday / Josie Carroll / Ivan Dalos /Luis Contreras Buy Cheap Kd . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted that its believed the Flames are working towards a new contract with the defenceman. Kd Shoes Clearance .J. -- John Elway says Peyton Manning cannot stamp himself as the greatest quarterback in NFL history even if he wins the Super Bowl on Sunday. http://www.cheapkdshoes.net/ .Y. -- First, Patrick Kane gave his family and friends something to cheer about by scoring a highlight-reel goal in a rare trip home to Buffalo on Sunday night. Cheap Kd Shoes . According to MMAFighting.com, MacDonald needs an x-ray on his right ankle and doctors clearance to fight or he will be subject to a mandatory medical suspension that will end on August 22, 2014. Kd Shoes Mens Sale . It was the start of one nice night for the goalie and the Minnesota Wild. Backstrom made 33 saves in his first win of the season and the Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Saturday in a rematch of their first-round playoff series.SAN DIEGO -- The way Jordan Zimmermann was pitching, the San Diego Padres didnt have a chance. Zimmermann took a perfect game into the sixth inning and finished with a two-hitter and a career-high 12 strikeouts to lead the Washington Nationals to a 6-0 victory against the San Diego Padres on Sunday. His game plan worked perfectly for spacious Petco Park. "I was throwing strikes and the guys got me some runs early," he said. "My mentality changed to pour strikes into the zone and fill it up. Big ballpark, just let them hit the ball and I had a lot of strikeouts today which means my fastball was pretty good and I was able to locate it pretty good." Zimmermann (5-2) faced only two batters over the minimum as he walked none in his first complete game of the season and sixth of his career. It was his third career shutout. His previous career high was 11 strikeouts, which hed done twice. The Padres were shut out for the 10th time, tops in the majors, and for the second time in the three-game series. Tanner Roark and the Nationals beat the Padres 6-0 Friday night in a combined three-hitter. Zimmermann said he had a "pretty terrible" bullpen session before the game. "But I guess thats the way it works. When thats bad its usually a game, but when you have a good bullpen you have a good game." He said he didnt think about a no-hitter. "Thats really tough to do. My career numbers say I give up a hit an inning, so I figured they were going to get a hit at some point in the game. It was fun putting up the zeroes but the main thing was to go deep and win the ballgame." San Diegos offensive ineptness was glaring against Zimmermann. He retired the first 16 batters before Alex Amarista singled to right field. Zimmermann then struck out pinch-hitter Tommy Medica and Everth Cabrera to end the inning. "From the first pitch, he was in the strike zone again," manager Matt Williams said. "Strike one is important. He was able to do that today. Fastball command -- he was throwing it exactly where he wanted to throw it." "We just didnt see the ball," Padres manager Bud Black said. "We didnt pick it up off him. He pumped some fastballs on us early and mixed some breaking balls early on and we couldnt solve him.&quoot; The Padres entered the game with the lowest batting average in the majors, .dddddddddddd220. In the span of seven games, they were two-hit twice -- also by Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox -- and one-hit once, although they beat Pittsburgh in that game. "Even with that lead, he hit his spots," Cameron Maybin said of Zimmermann. "He doesnt walk very many people. Sometimes you have to tip your hat. Guys like that are tough to come back against. The guy is pretty good. "In our ballpark, if you can stay out of the middle of the plate, its always tough, especially with his stuff," Maybin said. "He did a great job of locating his pitches today." In his previous start, Zimmermann gave up five hits in eight shutout innings in a 7-0 win against Philadelphia. Ian Desmond hit his second two-run home run in as many games for the Nationals. Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth each had three hits. San Diegos Seth Smith tripled leading off the eighth and was stranded. Padres left-hander Eric Stults (2-7) lasted only 2 1-3 innings, the shortest of his 85 career starts. He allowed six runs and eight hits, struck out two and walked none. Desmond hit a two-run homer to centre field in the second inning to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead. It was his 13th. He also hit a two-run homer Saturday night to give the Nationals the lead in a game they would lose 4-3 in 11 innings. Stults allowed three straight singles opening the third, including Adam LaRoches RBI base hit. After getting Ryan Zimmerman to line out to first, Stults allowed a single to Desmond to load the bases and was pulled. Tim Stauffer came on and allowed Espinosas two-run single. NOTES: Nationals 3B Anthony Rendon missed his second straight start after getting hit in the hand by a smash by Carlos Quentin on Friday night. Williams said Rendon should be able to play Monday. ... The Nationals open a four-game series at San Francisco on Monday night, when RHP Stephen Strasburg (5-4, 3.10) is scheduled to start against RHP Ryan Vogelsong (4-2, 3.39). ... Itll be a homecoming for Williams, who played his first 10 big league seasons with the Giants. ... The Padres are off Monday before opening a three-game series Tuesday at Philadelphia. ' ' '