Our Edge steps up for stakes

Our Edge will look to make the leap from a maiden win into stakes company in Saturday's feature race at Monmouth Park, the $70,000 Coronado's Quest Stakes.

The Coronado's Quest Stakes is named for the 1998 Haskell winner, who won 10 races and earned more than $2 million.

Restricted to 3-year-olds and to be run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, the Coronado's Quest drew a field of seven, including the entry of Our Edge and Toby the Coal Man for trainer Nick Zito and owner Robert LaPenta.

With little obvious pace in the race, Our Edge may hold a tactical advantage in the Coronado's Quest, just as he did in his maiden win at Delaware Park. That race was his second try at a mile, but his first at two turns, and he passed that test easily, drawing off to score by 8 3/4 lengths after setting the pace largely on an unpressured lead. Our Edge earned a 91 Beyer Speed Figure for that win, and that compares well to the average winning figure for 3-year-old maidens going long at Delaware Park, which is 75.

Elvis Trujillo, the leading rider at the current Monmouth Park meet with 40 wins, is scheduled to ride Our Edge for the first time.

Gone Astray comes off a pair of races against graded stakes company and is the likely favorite in the Coronado's Quest, the ninth of 10 races on the Saturday card.

"We're trying to get him into a race where he can be competitive," said trainer Shug McGaughey, who, coincidentally, trained Coronado's Quest. "This looks like a good spot."

Gone Astray, who will be trying two turns for the first time in the Coronado's Quest, was third in the Withers two back, and though he was off the board in the Woody Stephens Stakes last time he was compromised by a slow start.

"I thought he ran a really good race," said McGaughey, who named Eddie Castro to ride Gone Astray, a son of 2000 Haskell winner Dixie Union. "They went very fast [1:20.63], and he was working against an inside bias."

Endymion, Miles and Miles, Aspiring Nick, and In the Juice complete the field.

* The eighth race on the card is the $60,000 Anderson Fowler Stakes, scheduled to be run at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf. Perfect Officer, who was a half-length in front of Regardlesofoutcome when they last met in an open allowance sprint on the turf at Gulfstream, meets that rival again and looms as the horse to beat in the Fowler.