Jacks or Better Farm homebreds Awesome Banner (Awesome of Course) and Fellowship (Awesome of Course) will both make their next start in Gulfstream's GII Fountain of Youth S. Feb. 27, according to trainer Stanley Gold.
A dazzling 9 3/4-length debut winner in Hallandale June 5, Awesome Banner was equally impressive when when returning off a six-month layoff to register a decisive victory in the GIII Hutcheson S. Jan. 2. The bay went gate-to-wire to score a five-length success in the GII Swale S. last time Jan. 30 and will try two turns for the first time in the Fountain of Youth, where he is expected to face the likes of undefeated GIII Holy Bull S. hero Mohaymen (Tapit) and impressive allowance winner Cherry Wine (Paddy O'Prado).
“I don't see a mile and a sixteenth being a problem,” Gold said. “He won't be the first horse to have gone from sprinting to two turns. He's not a run-off, speed-crazy horse. He's just a quick horse.”
The conditioner added, “A mile and a sixteenth is not a mile and a quarter. That takes a whole other kind of horse, but you're not going to know until you try it. And you're probably never going to try it, unless you prove that you're at that level. You have to progress to it. It takes a special horse.”
While the Florida-based trainer is confident about his charge's ability to stretch out, he does not have Derby fever just yet.
“I don't see any reason to think about the [GI] Kentucky Derby now,” he remarked. “Remember you're talking about a horse that doesn't have any Derby points. To say I don't think about it…sure, everybody thinks about it. But I'm just one of those guys who thinks about the next race. I just want to run good in the Fountain of Youth.”
Winner of the track-and-trip Florida Sire In Reality S. as a juvenile, Fellowship kicked off his sophomore campaign with a fifth-place effort in the Mucho Macho Man S. Jan. 2. The chestnut completed the trifecta behind the aforementioned Mohaymen and GISW Greenpointcrusader (Bernardini) in the Holy Bull Jan. 30.
“He doesn't want to be rushed, but he does have some lick, the 58-and-change shows it,” Gold said. “He doesn't want to be rushed. He wants to finish. He was quietly waiting to go long. There wasn't a real solid pace in the Holy Bull, and Mohaymen had his way, whether or not he was the best horse in the race. There will be a pace in this race. I expect him to be running late and I expect him to run a good race. If he does, then maybe people will start to notice him.”
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