Sunny, hot and humid for the challenging 13-race Queen's Plate card, which begins at noon.

Lane 1 for both turf courses. The Going-stick on the main turf is 9.9, and 12.4 on the inner.

The 160st running of the $1 million Plate goes as the 10th at 5:36 p.m. The obvious protagonists are champion Avie's Flatter, probable pacesetter One Bad Boy and Skywire. The latter graces the cover of DRF, and has gotten lots of attention, so he could go off lower than his 4-1 morning line price. Stretch-runner Desert Ride benefited from a good setup when she won the WO Oaks. Tone Broke's last race at Pimlico was good, but his lack of synthetic track experience is a negative.

The Plate launches the late P4, which is guaranteed at $300K. The late P5 ($100K) begins on the ninth, the G1 Highlander, a wide open G1 turf dash. Caribou Club is a 7-5 underlay on the line. Wet Your Whistle is riding the wave of a three-race win streak, and should be lower than his 10-1 price. White Flag wears bar shoes off the layoff.

Canadian champions Holy Helena, the '17 Plate winner, and Starship Jubilee, will clash over 10 furlongs on turf in the G2 Dance Smartly. European import Rock my Love is a wild card in her first race on this side of the pond. Expect Holy Helena to run big one.

Synchrony is 7-5 in the G2 King Edward. At this stage of his career, the one-mile distance seems a little short for him. Going deep in the early P4 and middle P5 is recommended in this sixth race.

The two overnight turf stakes are early in the card. G3 Marine Stakes winner Global Asset stands out in the second, the $100K Charlie Barley for 3yos. Silent Sonet will try to win the Zadracarta (3rd) for the second year in a row, but she's vulnerable in the hot weather. Red Cabernet and Desert Isle are more appealing in the seven-furlong sprint for OS distaffers.

The Jackpot Hi 5 carryover is $16K.

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