Edge of Fire works toward Unbridled Stakes

Queen’s Plate prospect Edge of Fire breezed five-eighths in 1:03.80 on Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center in preparation for Saturday’s $75,000 Unbridled Stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Chiefswood Stables, Edge of Fire was an in-hand debut winner going six furlongs on Feb. 1 at Gulfstream. When moving out to a mile in a March 27 allowance, he wound up second to the unbeaten Money Moves, while boosting his Beyer Speed Figure output from 67 to 85.

Chiefswood general manager Robert Landry said there isn’t another upcoming allowance, but the 1 1/16-mile Unbridled is a viable alternative for the son of Curlin, who could end up on the American Triple Crown trail.

“That will get him some two-turn experience on the dirt,” Landry said. “We’re really excited about him. He’s done everything well to date. He had a late start to his career, so he would have had to play catch-up if he was good enough to be a [traditional] Derby- or Preakness-type horse. We’re going to take it one step at a time.”

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The Kentucky Derby and Preakness have been pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 161st running of the Queen’s Plate has been postponed from June 27 to a date to be determined due to the virus, which also delayed the start of the Woodbine meet.

Landry said Edge of Fire took some time to get his act together, which was why the Ontario-bred colt was unraced at 2.

“He was immature,” Landry recalled. “Jimmy Jerkens was very patient with him. I was really happy with his last race. Even though he got beat, he probably didn’t get as much out of his first race as you would have liked, because he did it so easily. Then, he ran second to a pretty nice horse of Todd Pletcher’s" -- Money Moves. "I actually watched the race with Todd, and he commented on how good our horse ran. He’s impressed quite a few people. He has a beautiful stride. He does everything pretty effortlessly.”

Landry said Chiefswood has two other Plate-nominated colts, most notably Malibu Edge, who’s coming off a much-improved third in a maiden turf route at Gulfstream for trainer Shug McGaughey. The unraced Final Eclipse is trained by Stu Simon.

“Final Eclipse was training really well and was supposed to run the second week of Woodbine,” said Landry, a former jockey who won the 2004 Queen’s Plate on Chiefswood’s Niigon.

Muskoka Gold back in training

Trainer Mark Casse reports that Conrad Farm’s Muskoka Gold is back on track after undergoing colic surgery in late January.

A top contender for 2019 Canadian champion male 2-year-old honors, Muskoka Gold graduated second-time out on the grass Oct. 6 in the $226,000 Cup and Saucer Stakes. He subsequently finished second in the Grade 3 Grey and a close third in the Coronation Futurity, both on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Woodbine.

“The way things are going, he may still make the Queen’s Plate,” Casse said.