Horse: Wild Desert
Post Position: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Jockey: Patrick Valenzuela

Trainer: Robert Frankel

Owners: Dan Borislow, Carl Gessler Jr. and Partners

• Since 1956, when the Queen's Plate was first raced at Woodbine, no horse has won the Canadian classic off a 10-week layoff. Wild Desert, who was the 4-1 second choice (behind Dance With Ravens) in the Plate Winterbook released in March, will try to become the first on Sunday. According to majority owner Dan Borislow, "I have a lot of confidence in this horse. I'm going to be very, very disappointed if he doesn't win this race."

• It's a tall order, though, since Wild Desert hasn't been seen since the Arkansas Derby, April 16, when he finished eighth, almost 16 lengths behind Afleet Alex, who had some proving to do himself after a dismal performance in the Rebel Stakes when sixth, albeit because of a lung infection. Afleet Alex certainly answered the bell that day and since, winning off by eight lengths and registering a 108 Beyer. Meanwhile, it was determined that Wild Desert had hurt himself in the race.

• "He didn't pick up his feet," explained Borislow, who has only seen his horse run once (Arkansas Derby) this year. "The horse hit on all four legs in that race. His feet weren't right. He rapped himself pretty good. Every race he had, if you look at the Ragozin numbers (handicapping service), you seldom see a horse get better with every single race. He did though, until the Arkansas Derby."

• A few days later, Borislow transferred the horse from Ken McPeek's barn to the care of trainer Richard Dutrow. Eclipse Award-winning trainer Bobby Frankel will saddle the horse in Plate.

• Wild Desert, a Windways Farm Ontario-bred who was supplemented to the Plate for $7,500 on February 1, looked like a Kentucky Derby horse earlier in the year. In fact, that's why Borislow bought him privately in February from former owner Carl Gessler Jr., who retained a piece in the new ownership group.

• "I've been looking for a Derby prospect for years," Borislow said in an interview with the Daily Racing Form back in March. "I really liked this colt. Looking at his form, he reminded me a lot of Real Quiet and Charismatic. (On his two-year-old form), he improved with every dirt race and was particularly impressive in his final race, when finishing third after racing about 13 wide around the final turn." That was in the mile and one-sixteenth Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs, when the bay colt was beaten less than three lengths by Greater Good and Rush Bay.

• He's only had three starts this year, but against the best of his generation. After opening with a fifth-place finish to High Fly and Bandini in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, March 5 at Gulfstream Park (The Daily Racing Form noted he was knocked sideways at the start), he ran a bang-up race in the Lanes End at Turfway Park, closing well to finish second to Flower Alley, a half-length back in the muddy mile and one-eighth contest on March 26. He certainly looked like a live longshot for the Kentucky Derby until his Arkansas Derby performance. His only recorded workout since then is a five furlong breeze in 1:01 4/5 at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on May 29, where he's been stabled, prior to being transferred to Frankel's barn this week.

• "He could have raced in the Belmont, but that Afleet Alex is a helluva horse," continued Borislow. "Coming off a long layoff, sometimes if they run a big effort, they'll bounce. We didn't want to run second in the Belmont when we could be first in the Queen's Plate. I think the filly (Gold Strike) looks tough and the advantage she has is that she should be in top form. This is a huge race, even for Americans. It's a very prestigious race, the history of Canada. We respect that and so we want to be part of it."

Owners - Dan Borislow, Carl Gessler Jr. and Partners

While 43-year-old Philadelphia native Dan Borislow owns the majority interest in Wild Desert, his partners include Carl Gessler Jr. of Alabama, former NHL'er Keith Jones of the Philadelphia Flyers, Sandy Goldfarb and Michael Dubb of New York (minority owners of Sis City, one of the top three-year-old fillies in the U.S.) and New York Yankee manager Joe Torre, who recently bought in.

Borislow currently owns 40 horses (he sold most of his breeding stock at the Keeneland Mixed Sale last November), including mares and foals at Kentucky's Knockgriffin Farms and sire Talk Is Money, who stands at Millennium Farms. He is best known for his former ownership of homebred Toccet, a top two-year-old who also raced in the Breeders' Cup in 2002 and 2003. Toccet, who was named for former Flyer Rick Tocchet but whose name was misspelled at registration, won four graded races as a two-year-old in 2002 and $755,610.

Borislow made his fortune in the telecommunications business. In 1997, he acquired the exclusive rights to sell discounted long distance service to America Online customers in a $100 million deal. Two years later, his company (Tev-Save Holdings, Inc.) had doubled in value from $750- million to $1.5-billion, when he sold it in 1999 for a reported 'nine figures' and 'retired' at age 38.

He moved his family to Florida, where he now resides in Palm Beach. While he had dabbled in the thoroughbred game at Philadelphia Park, he got involved in a big way in the late 1990's. In 1999, he purchased a $1.8 million yearling at Keeneland and named him Talk Is Money (in honour of his former business, "Every time someone was talking on the phone, I made money.") He also sold broodmare Beautiful Bid, who produced Breeders' Cup Distaff and Eclipse Award winner Beautiful Pleasure, for $2.6 million in 2000.

Trainer - Robert Frankel

Robert (Bobby) Frankel is one of North America's most successful trainers. In 2004, he ranked second to Todd Pletcher in North America with $15.6 million in earnings and 135 wins from 491 starts. Among his 30+ graded stakes winners were Grade 1 winners included Medaglia d'Oro, Peace Rules, Sightseek and Breeders' Cup Classic and U.S. Horse of the Year Ghostzapper.

Born July 9, 1941, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Frankel starting 'walking hots' at Belmont Park and Aqueduct in the early 1960's before obtaining his trainer's licence in 1966. Early in his career, he earned a reputation as the "King of the Claimers", developing horses such as Barometer, Baitman, Lakeside Trail and Pataha Prince into stakes winners. In 1972, Frankel moved to California and won a record 60 races at Hollywood Park that season. But it wasn't until 21 years later that his reputation was nationally recognized.

In 1993, Frankel received an Eclipse Award as North America's outstanding trainer, his first of five Eclipse Awards as top horseman. He won his fourth straight title in 2003 with two record-breaking performances, most earnings by a trainer in one year ($19,143,289) and most Grade 1 wins by a trainer in one year (25). He's also conditioned seven Eclipse Award winners: sprinters Squirtle Squirt and Aldebaran, female turf horses Possibly Perfect, Wandesta and Ryafan, and older horses Bertrando and Ghostzapper. He won his first Triple Crown race (The Belmont) in 2003 with Empire Maker, spoiling Funny Cide's Triple Crown bid.

In addition to Ghostzapper, Frankel, a southern California resident who was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga in 1995, has won two other Breeders' Cup races, Squirtle Squirt in the 2001 Sprint and Starine in the 2002 Filly and Mare Turf.

This year, Frankel began training a Woodbine string for Stronach Stables, under the care of assistant Brian Lynch. Frankel's biggest win in Canada was in the 2000 Atto Mile with Riviera.

Jockey - Patrick Valenzuela

Born October 17, 1962 in Montrose, Colorado, Patrick Valenzuela exploded onto the west coast riding scene. He won his first race at Sunland Park in New Mexico in 1978, before becoming the leading apprentice in 1979-80 at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita. In 1980, at only 17 years of age, he steered Codex to victory in the Santa Anita Derby. In 1982, he was presented with the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Award.

For the next dozen years, he was one of the sport's leaders. He was the regular pilot for 1989 champion Sunday Silence, winning both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, as he was aboard in 12 of the colt=s 14 career starts. He won six Breeders= Cup races, with Brave Raj (1986), Very Subtle (1987), Arazi (1991), Opening Verse (1991), Eliza (1992) and Fraise (1992). The performance by Arazi in winning the Juvenile remains one of the most overpowering scenes in Breeders= Cup history. He was also the first jockey to win at least two Breeders' Cup races on the same card, in 1991.

Valenzuela returned to prominence in 2002 in a remarkable renaissance. In 2002 and 2003, he was California's leading rider. He also finished seventh nationally in 2002 with $12.5 million in purses and 222 wins and was fifth in 2003, with $15.6 million in purses and 286 wins, both times behind leader Jerry Bailey.

The Arcadia, California resident rode Falcon Flight to a second place finish behind Ballingarry in the 2002 Pattison Canadian International, the last time he was at Woodbine. In 2003, he won his seventh Breeders' Cup race, aboard longshot Adoration in the Distaff, but last year rode in only 202 races, winning 45 races. This year, he's currently 10th to John Velazquez with 4.3 million and 85 wins from only 406 mounts, after missing some time with injuries. In a 25-year career, his mounts have earned over $132 million.