“Having been fortunate enough to not only grow up but also work most of my career in the sport of horse racing has afforded me the opportunity to see many great horses up close and personal. So, when asked the question, ‘Who is the horse that changed your life?’ it’s understandably difficult to narrow it down to one.
Instead, I’m going to focus on a horse that some might say I’m ‘intrinsically’ or ‘cosmically’ connected to, yet never met or witnessed in person.
April 13, 1972 is a very special day for me. It was the day I was born. The first born to Hall of Fame jockey Robin Platts. But it’s also the day that a horse by the name of Victoria Song, a horse my dad was aboard while my mom Debbie was with me in the hospital, won his very first race.
So, why the connection? It’s all about the 13, and it gets a little spooky.
Victoria Song was 0-for-13 in 1971. He broke his maiden on April 13, 1972. He went on to win the 113th running of the Queen’s Plate later that year– my father’s first of a record-tying four victories (one of only three jockeys to accomplish that feat) in the race. As it turns out, trainer Larry Grant was given OJC car sticker #113 in 1972. Victoria Song was apparently stalled in stall number 13 of his barn. He was the 113th horse sold at the CTHS yearling sales in 1970.
And to this day, my dad says he had a weird dream about the number 13 leading up to that Queen’s Plate. He didn’t draw post 13 for that big race, but he did draw post three.
Put his No. 1 placing in front of that No. 3 post and guess what you get?
I never met Victoria Song, but I can’t help feel that somehow, someway we had a special connection on that 13th day of the fourth month of 1972. Some might say that horse kicked off my father’s career by giving him his first Queen’s Plate (Four Plates total, over 3,200 victories, a Sovereign Award winner, an Avelino Gomez Award winner and a Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee - not a bad career by all accounts). And because of his career, I’ve had the opportunity to grow up, experience and work myself in this beautiful, majestic and awe-inspiring sport.
I never thought I’d end up here, but I did, and perhaps it had a little something to do with a horse by the name of Victoria Song.”
By Rob Platts, for Ontario Racing
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