TORONTO - The incomparable Wise Dan will make his much-anticipated return to horse racing on Canadian soil.

Charles LoPresti, the trainer for the two-time North American horse of the year, said Thursday that Wise Dan will run in the $1-million Ricoh Woodbine Mile on Sept. 13 at Woodbine Racetrack. It will be Wise Dan's first race this season as the eight-year-old gelding has been out since last October with a right front foot fracture.

"As of (Thursday) morning, I'd say yes," LoPresti told The Canadian Press in a telephone interview. "He worked very well (Tuesday) and trained really strong (Thursday).

"In the horse industry you just never know if something goes wrong at the last minute. But as of right now we're coming."

Wise Dan would certainly give the Woodbine turf event star appeal. Wise Dan has amassed over US$7.5 million in earnings and 23 wins over 31 career starts.

Twice he's won the Woodbine Mile (2012-'13) and followed both up with victories in the Breeders' Cup Mile.

A third Woodbine Mile win would qualify Wise Dan for the 2015 Breeders' Cup Mile, which goes Oct. 31 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., Wise Dan's home track.

"That's the way he prepped for that race (Breeders' Cup Mile) before," LoPresti said. "I wanted to take as much time as I could to really prepare this horse for his first race and that's why it really fit into our schedule so well."

LoPresti said Wise Dan is 100 per cent healthy.

"I wouldn't be breezing or running him if he wasn't," LoPresti said. "All indications are he's the same horse . . . we won't know for sure until we run him but we love it there."

With good reason. Wise Dan has been dominant in the Woodbine Mile, each win being by more than three lengths. And in 2013, Wise Dan blazed to a track-record time of 1:31.75.

LoPresti, who won the 2011 Mile with Turallure, said the Woodbine Mile suits Wise Dan very well.

"(Woodbine) has a wonderful turf course that he really likes," LoPresti said. "I like that it's not a handicap race where his first race back they'll dump a bunch of weight on him.

"It really fit into our plans where we could take our time and really try to prepare him as best as we could . . . we could've run him in the summer but this gave us all summer to prepare him. It just made the most sense."

Wise Dan certainly didn't show any signs of slowing down in 2014, winning all four of his starts. His last victory was in the US$1-million Shadwell Turf Mile on Oct. 4 at Keeneland, which was also his second straight win following colic surgery.

Wise Dan will arrive at Woodbine riding a five-race win streak. His last loss came in the '13 Shadwell when he finished second to Silver Max following nine straight victories. That race, also at Keeneland, was taken off the turf due to rain.

"He's just an incredible horse," LoPresti said. "Horses like him come around once in your life and from what I saw of his work the last couple of days and his gallop (Thursday morning), it was phenomenal.

"There are very few horses you'll ever see in your life that are like him. We have a Triple Crown winner now in American Pharoah and horses like that are just different."

LoPresti has been Wise Dan's only trainer and said the champion racehorse still has a burning desire to compete.

"This is not about Eclipse Awards, this is not about money, this is about a horse who wants to do this," LoPresti said. "If he didn't want to do this, he wasn't showing the signs of wanting to do this then we wouldn't even be considering it.

"But we know he's in good shape, we know he's not a problem radiographically so we're going to go forward."

LoPresti said Wise Dan has always been pleasant away from the track but all business on it.

"He's the best you could be," LoPresti said. "He's a pet but he's a strong, tough horse when he's on the racetrack."