ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes is crunch time for the Canadian-bred 3-year-olds prepping for the $1 million King’s Plate, and Dewolf is among those who must put up or shut up regarding the Aug. 16 Canadian classic. Dewolf was among the leading 2-year-olds at Woodbine last year when he placed in the Grade 3 Grey Stakes and Coronation Futurity after winning the Bull Page Stakes. He had worked strongly prior to a flat third in his June 8 season opener in the Queenston Stakes. Trainer Kevin Attard is hoping for an improved run in the Trial with leading rider Pietro Moran aboard. “He’s training really well and looks good,” Attard said. “I thought his comeback race was very disappointing. In hindsight, maybe he [Moran] should have let the horse run more early and get into the flow of the race – just let him run his race. “We’re making no mistakes this time. We’re going to let him come out of the gate and do his thing now. We’ll see how good he is.” With the addition of Lasix, Notorious Gangster is moving out to the nine-furlong distance over which he captured the Coronation Futurity for Canadian-breds in November. Trained by Josie Carroll, he should be favored with Fraser Aebly riding from post 10. After getting the winter off, Notorious Gangster rallied outside for third behind Mansetti in the six-furlong Woodstock Stakes April 27. He won the seven-furlong Queenston after mounting an inside bid from fifth, for which he got an 80 Beyer Speed Figure, which wasn’t far off the 82 he received in the Coronation Futurity. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The superstitious Aebly declined an interview heading into the Trial, but he was enthusiastic about Notorious Gangster right after winning the Queenston. “He’s definitely grown up and matured a lot since last year,” Aebly said. “I think I fit him very well and he runs really hard for me. He’s awesome.” Among the others in the 10-horse field are Scorching, Regal Guest, Sedbury’s Ghost, Watsonville Red, and Unbridled Weather. After missing the Coronation Futurity and the March 1 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct due to illness, Scorching rallied inside for second in the Grade 3 Marine on June 28 in his first outing in 8 1/2 months. He won the Cup and Saucer Stakes by disqualification in October after graduating in style in the restricted Simcoe Stakes, earning an 80 Beyer in both races. Regal Guest is experimenting around two turns off a leading second in the Queenston. The huge gray is a full brother to five-time Canadian champion sprinter Pink Lloyd, who never competed over a route of ground. Sedbury’s Ghost and Watsonville Red were not beaten far when fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 1 1/6-mile Marine. Sedbury’s Ghost worked impressively just prior to the Marine, a race in which he came from midpack over a speed-favoring track to finish 1 3/4 lengths behind victorious Mansetti. Watsonville Red trailed after missing the break and racing wide, finishing 2 1/2 lengths in arrears. Unbridled Weather, who won the seven-furlong Frost King Stakes at 2, returned from an eight-month absence to lose a heartbreaker after leading the way in an Ontario-sired allowance route June 21. “He definitely needed the comeback race and ran very well,” trainer Angus Buntain said. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.