Promising juvenile Fire On Ice out for the year

Promising 2-year-old colt Fire On Ice suffered a non-displaced condylar fracture in his left hind leg and will be out the rest of the year, trainer and co-owner John Kimmel said Thursday.

A gray son of Unbridled's Song, Fire On Ice won his debut on August 27 at Saratoga Race Course by 10 ¾ lengths, running six furlongs in 1:09.67. He was being pointed toward the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes on October 8 at Belmont.

"He worked beautifully yesterday [a bullet five furlongs in 59.94 on the Belmont main track]. He wouldn't have blown a match out when he came back," Kimmel said. "We took the bandages off this morning and [discovered the fracture]."

Fire On Ice will be shipped to Florida and operated on Monday at the Ocala Equine Hospital by Dr. John Madison. He will convalesce at Adena Springs South in Williston, Fla. Adena owner Frank Stronach recently purchased a majority interest in the colt.

"It's straightforward medicine and surgery, and we'll bring him back as a 3-year-old," Kimmel said.