Fountain of Youth Wrap-Up

Trainer Todd Pletcher reported that Itsaknockout (Lemon Drop Kid), winner of Saturday’s GII Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth S. via disqualification, came out of his stakes debut in good order and is a prospect for the GI Besilu Stables Florida Derby Mar. 28. “He came out of it well,” Pletcher said. “He looked good. We’ll see how he trains, but the logical thing would be to stay here and run in the Florida Derby.” 

Itsaknockout finished second, 2 3/4 lengths behind favored Upstart (Flatter). He was placed first by the stewards, who determined that Upstart had drifted into the path of the Starlight Racing colorbearer and impeded him in the stretch. 

“I hate winning in that situation,” Pletcher continued. “You always want to be the first one to cross the finish line. But we’ve been on both sides of that. It stings when you’re the winner and sometimes when you feel like you’ve been impeded and you don’t get put up. But I’m proud of the horse for what he was able to do, to run so well against a more seasoned horse says a lot about him and his quality. Hopefully, he can come back and keep moving forward.” 

Upstart’s trainer, Rick Violette Jr., reported that his GII Lambholm South Holy Bull S. winner was, “a little tired, but otherwise he’s OK.” Violette said, “I wished the track could have been a little faster. It was a very tough day. It was a very dry humidity day with constant wind. It was an uphill battle, no doubt about it.” Violette said that he won’t make a quick decision whether Ralph M. Evans’ Upstart will run next in the Florida Derby or elsewhere.