Sixty-one of the finest Canadian-bred three-year-olds remain on target for the 161st running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12.
The connections of 58 Queen’s Plate hopefuls made the July 1 sustaining payment with an additional three supplementing to the 1 1/4-mile opening leg of the Canadian Triple Crown for a fee of $5,000.
Recent Queenston Stakes winner Halo Again is among the top contenders after his triumphant return to Woodbine on July 4 when he defeated a field of fellow Queen’s Plate hopefuls in the seven-furlong prep. Bred by Anderson Farms, the son of Speightstown and Halo’s Verse has won three of his first five career starts, including last year’s Coronation Futurity, while banking almost $260,000 for owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton Racing. The bay colt will aim to pull off the rare Coronation Futurity and Queen’s Plate double, last accomplished by Norcliffe in 1976. He is conditioned by top American trainer Steve Asmussen, whose first foray in the Canadian Triple Crown yielded a third-place finish in last year’s Queen’s Plate followed by a pair of victories in the Prince of Wales Stakes and Breeders’ Stakes courtesy of Tone Broke.
Halo Again is the 8-1 fourth choice in the 2020 Queen’s Plate Winterbook. Nine of the top 10 Winterbook selections remain eligible including pre-season favourite Malibu Mambo, trained by Kevin Attard and owned by Stronach Stables.
The list of nominees includes 10 of the 36 fillies that remain eligible to the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks presented by Budweiser, which will be contested on August 15.
Canadian Triple Crown-winning trainer and new Hall of Fame inductee Mike Keogh has a pair of contenders including Dr. Green, one of the three supplements. Other supplements include Canadian Pharoah, an unraced colt sired by the U.S. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, and Ennis the Menace.
An additional $10,000 payment or supplementary fee of $25,000 is due upon entry to the Queen’s Plate on Wednesday, Sept. 9 by 8:30 a.m.
Ninety-two horses, including 14 fillies, were originally nominated to the 2020 Queen’s Plate.
To view the full updated list of three-year-olds nominated to the Queen’s Plate, visit Woodbine.com.
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