The prep race for the Florida Derby, on the road to the Kentucky Derby, will be run this Saturday at Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – The road to the Kentucky Derby (G1) features multiple key stops this weekend, including Saturday’s Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park, a 1 1/16-mile test on dirt offering a $415,000 purse.
A field of eight 3-year-olds will line up in search of crucial qualifying points for a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs, the opening leg of the U.S. Triple Crown.
Part of a blockbuster card featuring nine stakes races, the Fountain of Youth will mark the return of Burnham Square (Liam’s Map), who will look to validate his upset victory in last month’s Holy Bull Stakes (G3). Trained by Ian Wilkes, the gray colt will once again have Edgard Zayas in the irons.
Listed as the second choice on the morning line, Burnham Square will face a formidable challenge from the highly regarded River Thames, who boasts the powerhouse combination of Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez. A son of Maclean’s Music, the colt is undefeated in two starts at Gulfstream Park, scoring by 4 3/4 lengths on debut over six furlongs before stretching out to a mile and romping by 6 1/2 lengths against tougher company. He looks like the real deal.
Hall of Famer Bill Mott and Junior Alvarado team up with Sovereignty, a Godolphin homebred by Into Mischief, who has not raced since an impressive five-length victory in the Street Sense Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs last October. If he fires off the layoff, he could make things interesting.
Adding further depth to the field is Gate to Wire (Munnings), the other Pletcher trainee, who brings solid credentials of his own. A last-out winner of the Swale Stakes (L), he was also runner-up as a juvenile in the Futurity Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct.
Potential upsetter Keep It Easy (Hard Spun) rebounded from a disappointing effort in the Saratoga Special (G2) to take the Ed Brown Stakes (L) at Churchill Downs in late November.
The lineup is rounded out by McKellen (McKinzie), Solid Left (West Coast), and Neoequos (Neolithic).
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