Following the Breeders' Stakes, the colt's connections will decide if they want to come back in three weeks for the Aug. 27 Travers Stakes (gr. I).
Wild Desert, winner of the Queen's Plate on June 26, will be pointed for the Canadian Triple Crown, majority owner Dan Borislow said Wednesday. The second leg, the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie, will be run July 17, followed three weeks later by the 12-furlong Breeders' Stakes on the grass."He came out of the Queen's Plate in great shape," Borislow said. "As long as he looks good and is doing good, we'll come back in the Prince of Wales. The track at Woodbine was extremely slow, and we expect him to move up many lengths coming off that tiring track."Wild Desert won the Plate by half a length over King of Jazz with Gold Strike finishing third. The final time of 2:07 1/5 for the 1 1/4-mile Plate was the slowest for the race in more than 30 years. Amber Herod won the 1974 edition in 2:09 1/5 on a sloppy track. Wild Desert, who is owned by Borislow, Gessler, Jones, Goldfarb, Dubb, Davis and Diamond Pride, hadn't run since the Arkansas Derby (gr. II). Prior to that, he finished a fast-closing second in the Lane's End Stakes (gr. II), his second start for Borislow, who purchased the son of Wild Rush in February.Wild Rush was saddled in the Queen's Plate by Bobby Frankel, who was subbing for Rick Dutrow, who is currently serving a 60-day suspension. Dutrow took over the training of Wild Desert from Kenny McPeek following the Arkansas Derby.