Sat: $400K G2 Fountain of Youth

Sat: $400K G2 Fountain of Youth Feb 18, 2015 2:52:34 GMT -5

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Post by Jon on Feb 18, 2015 2:52:34 GMT -5

Upstart an expected heavy favorite in Fountain of Youth
Brisnet

Upstart figures to be a strong favorite when he takes on seven rivals in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) over 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

A dominating winner of the January 24 Holy Bull (G2) over the same track and distance, Upstart will face four rivals from that race as well as three new shooters in the premier prep for next month's Florida Derby (G1).

The Fountain of Youth highlights a stakes-laden card and awards the winner 50 points toward Kentucky Derby (G1) eligibility as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series.

A New York-bred, Upstart beat state-breds in his first two outings before placing in the Champagne S. (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). He kicked off his three-year-old campaign in the Holy Bull, which he won with ease under Jose Ortiz.

"This isn't your father's New York-bred, so to speak," trainer Rick Violette said. "The bar has been raised. There was a terrific cast of New York-breds last year all across the country. There is certainly no longer an asterisk or a stigma as to where they were bred."

Frosted (Tapit) runner-up in the Holy Bull as the 3-2 favorite, was also second as the public choice in the Remsen S. (G2) in November. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is hoping the gray can turn the tables on Upstart.

"I think the winner was most impressive that day and hopefully he doesn't run as impressive this time and he drops back to us a length or two and we gain a length or two with the blinkers and a better post position," McLaughlin said. "We think we have a good chance. We have a lot of respect for Upstart, but we just hope he doesn't run such a monster race again."

Mucho Macho Man winner Bluegrass Singer, a tiring third in the Holy Bull after setting the pace, will attempt to take the field wire-to-wire again.

"He finished third, beaten seven lengths. He kind of sprung a shoe and I think that definitely had something to do with it," trainer Marcus Vitali said. "I'm not big on making up excuses. It is what it is. It's horse racing. It unfolded the way it did, but I was still ecstatic the way he ran first time going a mile and a sixteenth. We're just gearing up."

Also exiting the Holy Bull are also-rans Juan and Bina (Indian Charlie), who ran fourth, and sixth-place finisher Frammento (Midshipman).

The new shooters include the Todd Pletcher-trained Itsaknockout (Lemon Drop Kid), a 5 1/4-length allowance winner in early January; Gorgeous Bird (Unbridled's Song), a seven-length allowance scorer for Ian Wilkes on January 24; and Danny Boy (Harlan's Holiday), who was Grade 3-placed on turf last fall and fourth in his only prior dirt attempt

11 Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth S. (Grade II) POST Time - 5:30 PM
Entries Plus (Free) PPs & Selections
$1 Daily Double / $1 Exacta / $.50 Trifecta / $.10 Superfecta

Gulfstream Park STAKES

Purse $400,000. For Three Year Olds. (Plus $15,000 bonus for FTBOA Registered Florida-Bred). Free nomination by Saturday, February 7. $4,000 to pass the entry box and $2,000 additional to start with $400,000 Guaranteed. After payment of 1% to all owners of horses finishing sixth through last, 62% of the remaining purse shall be paid to the owner of the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, and 3% to fifth. Weight: 122 Lbs. Non-winners of a grade I or II stakes at a mile or over allowed 2 Lbs.; of a grade III or $60,000 at a mile or over, 4 Lbs.; of two races other than maiden or claiming, 6 Lbs. Starters to be named through the entry box by the usual time of closing. Supplemental nominations may be made at the time of entry. All fees shall be paid prior to the start of the race. This race will be limited to 14 starters, with also eligibles. If more than 14 entries pass the entry box, preference will be given to graded stakes winners, then highest career earnings. Trophy to the winning owner. One And One Sixteenth Miles.

1 Juan and Bina (KY) 3/C L J Castellano 116 G Delgado
2 Bluegrass Singer (KY) 3/G L P Lopez 118 M J Vitali
3 Frammento (KY) 3/C L J R Velazquez 116 N P Zito
4 Gorgeous Bird (KY) 3/C L J Rosario 116 I R Wilkes
5 Itsaknockout (KY) 3/C L L Saez 116 T A Pletcher
6 Frosted (KY) 3/C L I Ortiz, Jr. 116 K P McLaughlin
7 Upstart (NY) 3/R L J L Ortiz 122 R A Violette, Jr.
8 Danny Boy (KY) 3/C L C J Lanerie 116 D L Romans

Owners: 1 - Grupo 7C Racing Stable ; 2 - Crossed Sabres Farm LLC ; 3 - Mossarosa ; 4 - Marylou Whitney Stables LLC ; 5 - Starlight Racing ; 6 - Godolphin Racing LLC ; 7 - Ralph M. Evans ; 8 - Donegal Racing

Breeders: 1 - Carl F. Pollard; 2 - Gaines-Gentry Thoroughbreds &Hardy Thoroughbreds LLC; 3 - Mr. & Mrs. Oliver S. Tait; 4 - Marylou Whitney Stables LLC; 5 - Brookfield Stud; 6 - Darley; 7 - Mrs. Gerald A. Nielsen; 8 - Ashview Farm LLC &Colts Neck Stables LLC

Equipment Changes: 3 - Frammento - Blinkers On;6 - Frosted - Blinkers On

Sat: $400K G2 Fountain of Youth Feb 20, 2015 15:08:54 GMT -5

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Post by cait on Feb 20, 2015 15:08:54 GMT -5

it's a slow Friday lol this is informative from an historical pov (and I remember far too many of the mentioned races!)

Crist: Fountain of Youth’s past has classic look
By Steven Crist
DRF

If you’re looking for future classic winners, a good place to start is the Fountain of Youth Stakes, which was first run in 1945 and will be renewed Saturday at Gulfstream Park. The 1945 and 1947 editions of the race were for 2-year-olds in December, but all the other runnings – 61 of them, including three years when the race split – have been for 3-year-olds in February or March, and the roll of winners is a strong one.

Five Fountain of Youth winners have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby: Tim Tam (1958), Kauai King (1966), Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995), and Orb (2013). Five others ran second or third in the Fountain of Youth and later won the roses at Churchill Downs: Iron Liege (1957), Pleasant Colony (1981), Swale (1984), Unbridled (1990), and Go for Gin (1994).

The race also has produced winners of the Belmont Stakes, including Stephan’s Odyssey, Bet Twice, and Union Rags. Other accomplished Fountain of Youth winners include Proud Truth, Pulpit, and the juvenile champions Copelan, Forty Niner, Fly So Free, and Dehere.

The race was so strong that for a few years starting in the late 1990s, it was elevated to Grade 1 status by the Graded Stakes Committee. This was a triumph of literal-mindedness over common sense: Despite its glittering roster of winners, the Fountain of Youth was and is a prep for a prep (the Florida Derby) for the classics. Right after the upgrade was made, there came a run of mediocre winners of clearly subpar quality, and in 2003, the committee properly knocked the race back down to a Grade 2, its status ever since.

(The Fountain of Youth was one of five races downgraded that year, along with the Spinaway at Saratoga, the Futurity at Belmont, and the San Carlos and San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita. Of those, only the Spinaway has returned to Grade 1 status.)

The time between the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby has changed radically over the years, reflecting the trend toward fewer preps before the Triple Crown. Tim Tam won the 1958 Florida Derby just 10 days after winning the Fountain of Youth. (He ran seven times as a 3-year-old before the Derby.) This grew to 14 days in Swale’s day, 21 days in Thunder Gulch’s, and now the gap is up to 35 days between Saturday’s renewal of the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby on March 28.

Upstart, a New York-bred ridgling by Flatter, will be a strong favorite Saturday with good reason: He trounced returning rivals Frosted and Bluegrass Singer in the Holy Bull last month, has already run two triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, and has finished behind only three horses in his career, all of them Grade 1 winners: Daredevil, when Upstart was second in the Champagne, and Texas Red and Carpe Diem when he was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.