ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine has announced its 2018 stakes schedule, comprising 96 races, including the 159th running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate on the blockbuster June 30 card. Other highlights of the 133-day meet will be the Grade 1, $800,000 Woodbine Mile on Sept. 15; the Grade 1, $800,000 Canadian International on Oct. 13; the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks on June 9; and the $400,000 Breeders’ Stakes, the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, on Aug. 18. The opening-day feature, the $100,000 Jacques Cartier on April 21, could feature a showdown between Pink Lloyd and Noholdingback Bear, two of Canada’s top sprinters in recent years. Ontario-sired stakes purses have been decreased from $125,000 to $100,000. The two yearling sales stakes for 2-year-olds, the Simcoe and Muskoka, were chopped by $25,000 to $175,000. Two restricted stakes were discontinued, the Jammed Lovely and Nandi. There are two new open stakes for 2-year-olds in late August, the $100,000 Soaring Free and the $100,000 Catch a Glimpse. Both are six-furlong turf sprints, with the Catch a Glimpse restricted to fillies. Total purses for the meet of $67.6 million are consistent with 2017, including $16.6 million allocated to the stakes program. “We are committed to offering world-class horse racing at Woodbine with a strong stakes program, including numerous premier turf opportunities,” said Jonathan Zammit, Woodbine’s vice president of Thoroughbred racing operations. “With a reduction in funding from the Thoroughbred Improvement Program, and after consultation with the HBPA, Woodbine has allocated financial resources to overnight purses to maintain bonus amounts at 2017 levels and provide for a slight increase to overnight purses through new investment and utilization of unused 2017 purse funds to help offset the shortfall.” There are also 10 overnight stakes spread throughout the meet. The Labeeb and River Memories, which were traditionally run late in the fall on the grass, are not on the overnight stakes list. Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association Ontario president Sue Leslie said she was content with the program. “We are pleased with the Thoroughbred program Woodbine Entertainment is offering in 2018 and are appreciative of the cooperation between Woodbine and the HBPA,” Leslie said. Woodbine Entertainment and the HBPA have launched a new Health and Welfare Committee in cooperation with Fort Erie Racetrack. The committee has implemented a new policy that will require all horses shipping into Woodbine or Fort Erie to have current vaccinations for flu and rhinopneumonitis in addition to the mandatory Coggins. Woodbine’s stakes schedule can be found at woodbineracetrack.com.