ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A big weekend is ahead at Woodbine on the road to the $1 million Queen’s Plate, as seven of the top 10 contenders in Daily Racing Form’s Queen’s Plate Watch top 10 will be in action in two stakes preps Saturday afternoon. The 161st edition of the Queen’s Plate will be run over 1 1/4 miles on Woodbine’s Tapeta on Sept. 12. The $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes, the eighth race on Saturday’s card, features three horses in the top 10, including the No. 1-ranked horse, Clayton. :: 2020 Queen's Plate: Get odds, comments, analysis, and news for the 161st running of the Queen's Plate at Woodbine on Saturday, Sept. 12 Clayton comes into the 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial off a three-length win July 18 in his first start around two turns. He earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure in the 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming race on the Tapeta. “He was pretty impressive,” trainer Kevin Attard said. “He came out of the race in great shape. He’s working really well in the interim, and I’m happy with the way he’s going into the race on Saturday.” Also in the Plate Trial field is Halo Again, who sits third on the Queen’s Plate Watch list. Halo Again won the July 4 Queenston Stakes here off a four-month layoff. Trained by Steven Asmussen, Halo Again will be looking on Saturday to win his second nine-furlong race over Woodbine’s synthetic, following his victory in the Coronation Futurity last November. The Plate Trial also features two horses in the top 10 trained by Sid Attard – Elusive Knight and Dotted Line. Elusive Knight, who sits third on the top 10 list, was second behind Clayton in that July 18 allowance race, while Dotted Line, ranked fifth, finished third behind Shirl’s Speight in the Grade 3 Marine Stakes here July 25. Later on Saturday’s card, 10 Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies will contest the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks, also at 1 1/8 miles on Tapeta. Three of those fillies are included in the Queen’s Plate Watch top 10 list, including last season’s Canadian champion 2-year-old filly, Curlin’s Voyage. Curlin’s Voyage, who sits second in the top 10, won a pair of stakes around two turns last season, but the Oaks will mark her first start around two turns as a 3-year-old. She won the Fury Stakes over seven furlongs in her last start July 5 and was second in her seasonal debut in the six-furlong Star Shoot Stakes on June 13. Other Oaks fillies in the top 10 include Lasting Union and Merveilleux. Lasting Union, trained by Michael Matz, is ranked sixth in the top 10. She comes into the Woodbine Oaks off of back-to-back victories, including a 12-length victory in an allowance July 22 at Delaware Park. Merveilleux, meanwhile, is ranked seventh in the Queen’s Plate top 10 and will be looking to rebound off of a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes on July 25. Rounding out the initial Queen’s Plate top 10 list of the season are recent maiden winner Olliemyboy, who’s ranked eighth, along Tecumseh’s War and Mighty Heart, who rank ninth and 10th. Tecumseh’s War was second and Mighty Heart third in an allowance race against older horses Aug. 1 over 1 1/8 miles on Tapeta. :: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program. With the start of the Woodbine season delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Queen’s Plate will be run 11 weeks later than the originally scheduled date of June 27. The extra time to prepare may be a positive for some on the Queen’s Plate trail, but that’s not the case for Clayton, Attard said. “In our case, I wouldn’t say it helped us, but I don’t think it’s hurt us, either,” Attard said. “Everything kind of got set back, including the training aspect. We were constrained with no workouts at one point. That kind of delayed things. At the same token, that opened the door up for other people, too, I think in the sense that horses that weren’t coming to hand as quickly now have a little bit more time to prepare and get ready for the Queen’s Plate in September.” Trainer Catherine Day Phillips said Tecumseh’s War is one horse that has benefited from the extra time. He debuted in October of his 2-year-old year last season and raced into February. “The extra time for him is probably a good thing,” she said. “He ran as a 2-year-old around two turns, even though it was on the turf, but he has a good, solid foundation and background. It puts us in a nice spot. He probably would have followed the same schedule, we just had more of a break before we started racing.”