Queen’s Plate highlights 133-day thoroughbred card at Woodbine Racetrack

TORONTO – The 156th running of the $1-million Queen’s Plate will highlight Woodbine Racetrack’s 2015 thoroughbred schedule.

The 1 1/4-mile Plate, the first jewel of Canadian racing’s Triple Crown, will be run July 5. It’s North America’s oldest continuously-run stakes event.

The second Triple Crown event, the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes over 1 3/16 miles, is slated for July 28 at Fort Erie Racetrack.

The final gem is the $500,000 Breeders Stakes, a 1 1/2-mile turf race that will go Aug. 16 at Woodbine.

The schedule also includes the $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile (Sept. 13) and $1-million Pattison Canadian International (Oct. 18).

The $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, the first leg in Canada’s Triple Tiara of Racing, goes postward June 14. Also on the card will be the $150,000 Plate Trial, a top prep race for the Queen’s Plate.

This year’s schedule opens April 11 and will conclude Dec. 6.