ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine will hold its final two Grade 1 races of the meet this coming Saturday, with the Grade 1, $800,000 Canadian International Stakes and the Grade 1, $600,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes leading the card. A field of seven is expected pass through the entry box on Wednesday for the Canadian International, led by last year’s winner, Desert Encounter. Desert Encounter closed well in the stretch to win last year’s Canadian International by a length over Thundering Blue. This year, he comes into the Canadian International on the strength of a three-race win streak comprising victories in the Group 3 Queen’s Plate Glorious Stakes at Goodwood, the Group 3 Sky Sports Racing Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor, and the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup at Newbury. Desert Encounter also ran in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup last season, using a third-place finish in that start to tune up for the Canadian International. “It was very much used as a prep race, as it was last year,” trainer David Simcock said of Desert Encounter’s start in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup. “The fact that he won was a bonus.” European shippers have won nine of the last 10 editions of the Canadian International, and three other European-based horses join Desert Encounter among the Canadian International probables. The only other European shipper with North American experience is Pivoine, who finished fifth in the Grade 1 Arlington Million earlier this summer. He also ran second to Desert Encounter in the Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup in his most recent start on Sept. 21. Ziyad ships over from France off a win in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville on Aug. 25, and was second, beaten a neck, in a Group 1 at Saint-Cloud earlier in the summer. The runner-up from Ziyad’s win in the Grand Prix de Deauville, Soft Light, finished sixth in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, finishing 10 lengths behind winner Waldgeist. Rounding out the European group for the Canadian International is Alounak, who was most recently fifth in the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten in Germany on Aug. 11. He finished three lengths behind winner Old Persian, who won the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes here on Sept. 14. A pair of locally based horses are also among the probables for the Canadian International. Tiz a Slam won three consecutive graded stakes on turf this year, including the Grade 3 Singspiel Stakes and the Grade 2 Nijinsky Stakes at Woodbine, before finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes in his most recent start. Pumpkin Rumble, meanwhile, will come into the Canadian International off a win in the Alphabet Soup Handicap at Parx on Sep. 21. Nessy completes the list of Canadian International probables following his runner-up finish to Old Persian in the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf Stakes. Saturday’s card also features the Grade 2, $250,000 Nearctic Stakes.