Fountain of Youth Stakes

Paladin (Gun Runner), most recently winner of the GII Risen Star Stakes, and GII Fountain of Youth Stakes runner-up Chief Wallabee (Constitution) were 8-1 co-favorites when the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5 closed Sunday evening. The Chad Brown-trained Paladin, who runs next in the Apr. 4 GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, had $25,772 in Win bets, while the Bill Mott-trained Chief Wallabee, scheduled to make his next start in the Feb. 28 GI Curlin Florida Derby, handled $24,790--a difference of just $982. Next in the wagering was...

We edge inside the two-month mark to the GI Kentucky Derby with a well-bunched Top 12 hurtling toward more lucrative qualifying points races at longer distances. 1) PALADIN (c, Gun Runner--Secret Sigh, by Tapit) O-Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter M. Brant, Brook T. Smith, and Summer Wind Equine, LLC; B-Summer Wind Equine LLC (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. Sales history: $1,900,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG. Lifetime record: MGSW, 3-3-0-0, $848,250. Last start: WON Feb. 14 GII Risen Star Stakes. The 3-for-3 Paladin has racked up two wins in nine-furlong...

When a field of 10 enters the starting gate for Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, they'll sure have some big shoes to fill. Twelve months ago, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) embarked on what would become a Horse of the Year campaign with a narrow victory in his seasonal debut and a little more than two months later, joined Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013) as horses to add the GI Kentucky Derby in the last half-century. Horses such as Union Rags (2012) and...

Simplification (Not This Time--Simply Confection, by Candy Ride {Arg}), winner of the 2022 GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes, will stand the Southern Hemisphere breeding season at Haras Carampangue in Argentina, Turf Diario reported. The 6-year-old, who will shuttle back to Pleasant Acres Stallions in Ocala where he began his stud career in 2024, was brought to Argentina under a partnership between Haras Juan Antonio, Stud RDI, and El Wing. "We were approached by Roberto Vignatti, who really liked the horse and suggested we look into him," Ignacio Pavlovsky of...

Jockey Junior Alvarado, who has ridden leading GI Kentucky Derby chance Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in each of his four career starts to date, will miss about three weeks after fracturing his shoulder blade in a Sunday accident at Gulfstream Park. Daily Racing Form was first to report the news. Alvarado's mount in Sunday's 10th race at Gulfstream Park, Term (Medaglia d'Oro), suffered a fatal heart attack, according to DRF, and the rider's agent Mike Sellitto told the publication that Alvarado was looking after his horse when he was clipped by...

Though one of his daughters lost the services of Magnitude (Not This Time) straight after his GII Risen Star romp, and another must send Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) in from the cold this weekend, once again last Saturday the extraordinary distaff influence of Bernardini loomed behind the big Derby rehearsals on either coast. True, the winners of both the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes and GII San Felipe Stakes were first and foremost repaying a seven-figure investment in their respective dams--each clearly having much else going for them. But the...

OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, Upland Flats Racing, Morplay Racing, High Step Racing, Lady Sheila Stable and Michael and Jules Iavarone's highly regarded Victory Avenue (Arrogate), unraced since his debut run last winter, returns to the races Sunday at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Gustavo Delgado, the colt was second after a troubled start in his debut at Gulfstream on the Pegasus undercard last January. He was entered in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes off that maiden appearance, but was scratched. "He was just such a naturally fast talented colt that...

Within the past three months, the purses for all three Triple Crown races have been raised. Paradoxically, this increase in prize money has coincided with a 2024 prep race season that is uncharacteristically light on emphatic, leap-off-the-page contenders for the GI Kentucky Derby, GI Preakness S., and GI Belmont S. The first weekend in March has traditionally served as a launch pad for sophomores who figure to excel in the spring Classics and beyond. Of all the prep stakes currently carded at 1 1/16 miles, the two that have historically...

Dornoch (Good Magic) pleased Danny Gargan with his victory in Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. and the trainer said a decision on the colt's next start would likely be made by the end of the week. "He's great. He looked good this morning. He cooled out nice. We're happy with him. He ate up well," Gargan said. "We're pleased with him." Following Dornoch's professional performance as the 1-5 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, Gargan said the 3-year-old full-brother to 2023 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage...

Siena Farm and WinStar Farm's Speak Easy (Constitution), who had been cross-entered in an optional-claimer Friday, will take his place in the line-up for Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park. The sophomore debuted with an impressive victory going seven furlongs at the Hallandale oval Jan. 27. He drew the rail and will be facing eight other 3-year-olds in the 1 1/16-miles Fountain of Youth. "We like the post and the way he's been training," trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday. Irad Ortiz Jr., who was slated to...

Dornoch (Good Magic)'s determined victory in the GII Remsen S. Saturday at Aqueduct has Danny Gargan mapping out possible paths to next year's GI Kentucky Derby, but the trainer admitted his charge has plenty of growing up to do if he is to make it to Churchill Downs on the First Saturday of next May. Dornoch, who set swift fractions in the nine-furlong race Saturday, appeared defeated with a furlong to run when he bumped the rail and allowed Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) to surge past him. But Dornoch battled...

The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance will be the beneficiary of a special charity Pick 5 wager featured on CNBC during its next stop on the 1/ST Racing Tour Saturday. The upcoming day of coast-to-coast racing features 13 stakes races including the GI Santa Anita H., as well as the GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park and the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita Park. NBC Sports will produce and air a two-hour telecast from 4-6 p.m. (ET) on CNBC. Five of the six stakes broadcast on the show...