Thursday morning, June 18, the post positions were selected for the 150th running of the $1,000,000 Queen's Plate during a breakfast ceremony. A field of 13 Canadian-bred three-year-olds will go to post on Sunday in the 1 1/4 mile classic, with males carrying 126 pounds and fillies carrying 121 pounds. The Queen's Plate is the first race of Canada's Triple Crown, which continues with the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie on July 12 and the Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine on August 1. The race will be shown on CBC in Canada from 4:30-6:00pm ET, with the Plate going off at 5:36pm. The Queen's Plate will also be shown on TVG and simulcast to many locations throughout the United States.
The selection order for post positions was drawn first, via the traditional pill-pull, followed by the choosing of post positions by the connections for each horse, a system which has been in place since 1998. Saskatchewan native Gordie Howe, "Mr. Hockey", was the honorary drawmaster, assisting racing secretary Steve Lym in randomly drawing the selection order. "Mr. Hockey" is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and one poll ranked him #3 behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. Howe finished in the top 5 in scoring for 20 straight seasons, and is the only pro player to have played in 6 different decades, from 1946-1980 as a regular, and then playing one shift for the minor-league Detroit Vipers in 1997 at the age of 70 to set the record. Howe talked about his early playing days, where he earned his reputation as a tough competitor who could both score and fight.
The likely favorite, listed at 3-1 on the morning line, is the filly Milwaukee Appeal, exiting a 3 3/4 length romp in the Woodbine Oaks over fellow Plate entrant Tasty Tempation. Trainer Scott Fairlie chose Post 4. Fairlie did not reveal he would run his filly in the Plate until final entries were taken, and had to pay a $25,000 supplement. Asked what took him this long to decide, he said, "Well, the million dollars was a big part of it, but the main thing was the filly. Just wanted to make sure she was 100%, looked at her every day and she's been great." Asked if she will be in the first flight of horses, Fairlie said, "Very possible, depends on the pace, she's very easy to ride with good tactical speed." Stewart Elliott, who rode her to victory in the Oaks, will be aboard again on Sunday.
Mark Casse trains two entrants in the Plate, 4-1 third choice Tasty Temptation out of post 11, and 20-1 outsider Active Duty out of the 3 hole. Casse said of the filly, "I was disappointed (at the poor break in the Oaks). I looked, they broke, I sat down. She's never been a problem in the gate. She's now got 5/16 mile run to the first turn so (jockey) Patrick Husbands has plenty of time to put her where he wants to. All she needs is a little luck. She's a hard-luck filly, reminds me a lot about Sealy Hill."
Trainer Roger Attfield will attempt to become the only trainer to win nine Queen's Plates, sending out 8-1 shot Rapid Release from post 8. Jockey Jono Jones, who rode Not Bourbon to victory for Attfield in last year's race, gets the call. Attfield said of the Plate Trial third place finisher, "I hope (he moves forward off that race). He's working great and I couldn't be happier with him as I am right now. (In his workout on Wednesday) he went a little differently than what we wanted him to. He hooked up another horse at the 1/2 mile pole and galloped out a lot stronger than I really wanted him to. But he's in great shape and he's OK."
Below are the entries for the 2009 Queen's Plate with post positions, morning line odds, trainer, and jockey. Free past performances are available here from BRISnet.com. Profiles for each horse are also available here
Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | M/L Odds |
| 1 | El Brujo | Malcolm Pierce | Emma-Jayne Wilson | 15-1 |
| 2 | Flip For The Coin | Vito Armata | Emile Ramsammy | 30-1 |
| 3 | Active Duty | Mark Casse | Corey Fraser | 20-1 |
| 4 | Milwaukee Appeal | Scott Fairlie | Stewart Elliott | 3-1 |
| 5 | Mr. Foricos Two U | Catherine Day Phillips | Mike Smith | 15-1 |
| 6 | Reservoir | Julia Carey | Jim McAleney | 20-1 |
| 7 | Eye Of The Leopard | Mark Frostad | Eurico Rosa Da Silva | 7-2 |
| 8 | Rapid Release | Roger Attfield | Jono Jones | 8-1 |
| 9 | Bucephalus | Kevin Attard | Tyler Pizarro | 30-1 |
| 10 | Stardust Ziggy | Lorna Perkins | Jerry Baird | 20-1 |
| 11 | Tasty Temptation | Mark Casse | Patrick Husbands | 4-1 |
| 12 | Shut It Down | Lorne Richards | Russell Baze | 20-1 |
| 13 | Keino West | Steve Attard | Gerry Olguin | 15-1 |
