Carroll tabs Pizarro to ride Wilcox in Queen's Plate

Melnyk will have two chances to win the Plate this year. His other

silk-bearer is Golden Ridge, trained by Mark Casse. Melnyk won the 1998 Plate

with Archers Bay, a colt he co-owned with R. Bristow Farm.

The "draft" style post position selection process will be utilized for

Sunday's 153rd running of the Queen's Plate. The draft draw, first utilized for

the 1998 edition of the Plate, allows the owners and trainers of each runner in

the race to choose their horse's post position. The order of selection will be

established by a random draw that is identical to the "pill pull" method used to

determine Plate post positions before 1998.

After the selection sequence is drawn, owners and trainers will have a five

minute consultation period to discuss their choice. The "connections" will then,

in order of the random draw, announce their post position selection.

Mark Tewksbury, Canada's Chef de Mission for the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London, is the honorary drawmaster for this year's Queen's Plate Post Position

breakfast draw, Thursday at Woodbine.

He will assist in determining the post position draft order and speak briefly

of his participation in horse racing at the 9:30 a.m. (EDT) media conference. 

Thursday's Queen's Plate morning draw from the Woodbine walking ring will be

streamed live at

queensplate.com. Further information and event details for Plate day are

available there as well.

In other Queen's Plate news:

In honor of Queen's Plate week, multiple Hall of Fame jockey Sandy Hawley,

along with executives from Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), joined Tim

Babcock, director, Listed Issuer Services, TSX Venture Exchange, to open the

Toronto Stock Exchange, Wednesday morning. 

"On behalf of Woodbine Entertainment Group and the Queen's Plate, it was an

honor to open the TSX," Hawley said. 

Hawley, who captured the Queen's Plate on a record four occasions, enjoyed a

remarkable career that spanned 31 years, garnering 6,450 wins. His final victory

came on October 18, 2008, at Santa Anita Park, when Hawley, at the age of 59,

steered Tribal Chief to victory in a Living Legends Race.

The veteran rider was inducted into the Canadian Racing Hall of Fame in 1986,

the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1992 and Canada's Sports Hall

of Fame in 1998. After his retirement from racing, Hawley began a new career as

a public relations ambassador for WEG and is currently an on air host for

in-house programming and Bet Night Live on The Score. 

Hawley resides in Pickering, Ontario, with his wife, Lisa, and sons, Bradley

and Russell. His Plate winners are Almoner (1970), Kennedy Road (1971),

L'Enjoleur (1975) and Regal Embrace (1978).

To watch Hawley open the market, click

here.

Canada's most famous horse race will be center stage on CBC Television Sunday

at 4:30 p.m. The Queen's Plate is North America's longest continuously-run

stakes race and the first jewel in Canada's Triple Crown.

Scott Russell hosts the Queen's Plate on CBC, delivering Canadians all of the

excitement from the country's most revered horse race. The running of the

Queen's Plate will be shown live in high definition on CBC Television. Russell

will be joined by Brenda Irving and Elliotte Friedman and racing analysts Jim

Bannon and Renee Kierans.

Canadian jockey legend Sandy Hawley, with 6,450 wins and more than $88

million in purse earnings, will also offer his insight and analysis. Woodbine

track announcer Dan Loiselle, the voice of Canadian Thoroughbred racing, will

once again be in the booth to call the race for the 26th consecutive year. 

Highlights of the one and a half hour broadcast include features with Carroll

as well as Justin Stein, rider of one of this year's Queen's Plate favorites,

Strait of Dover.

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