2/24 (GP): Fountain of Youth (Gr. II)
 

9th (5:15) Fountain of Youth S. (G2)

1 1/8 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $350,000

1 Cool Coal Man Desormeaux K J 118 L
2 Golden Spikes Castellano J J 116 L
3 Court Vision Gomez G K 122 L
4 Kentucky Bear Trujillo E 116 L
5 Z Humor Velasquez C 120 L
6 Ready Set Lezcano J 116 L
7 Monba Prado E S 116 L
8 Anak Nakal Leparoux J R 120 L
9 Elysium Fields Coa E M 116 L
10 Halo Najib Douglas R R 120 L
11 Make the Point Velazquez J R 116 L
12 Adriano Castro E 116 L

I'm a little surprised by some of the Jockey assignments.
Prado on Monba?
Surprising JV or Gomez isn't riding what could be Pletcher's best hope for a Derby contender.
And I thought Leporoux was on Court Vision?

I'm been high on him as well. An inside post would've been nice. :mad:

He does look like a contender. Always in the hunt. Right now, I am very interested in Make The Point. McLaughlin is the man when it comes to stretch outs and 2nd off. Will I get a price??

Monba for me here.

kentucky bear./e fields /momba tri

Personally I think this is a really good betting race. It seems like you could go a lot of different ways with this one, but I think Zito's chances here are very good.

Coa has ridden Anak and Court Vision and now on E. Fields.
I find this interesting. I have no idea about arrangements
and trainers likes and dislikes with Jockey's "fitting" certain
horses. Is it that Coa made this choice and will it be as
bad as Calvin's decision to take Turf war getting off the
winner...?
I dont often trust the Jockey's decisions if they are given
that privilege.

What has Court Vision done wrong thus far? The only thing I can see is Mott entered him in a slow paced Remsen and the jock managed to get him bottled up until the 1/8 pole. He ran a much better race than the 76 BSF said he did.

Since this is his first race back he could be a little short. Plus his running style might not be right for the Gulstream Park track. There seems to be enough speed horses in the field to run a legitimate pace. If the track is fair he might be able a serious player. He'll be on my multis and if he's 4-1 or higher I'll place a win bet on him.

That's for sure. I count six horses that should be on or near the lead, and Pletcher appears to be putting some speed into Monba as well. I think the race sets up well for a horse like Court Vision, provided he doesn't drop too far out of it. Then again, I could see half the field winning this race.

The tricky thing about this race in terms of wagering is this race is only a prep race for Court Vision. Winning the race might not be the goal for the connections.

And this is what I don't get... why wouldn't the connections want their goal to be a win for their horse in a prep? Is it some sort of jinx to have your horse actually WIN the race that it's entered into? Another thing too is that this race is a prep for most of them entered, not just Court Vision...

excellent point!

premeditated excuse perhaps???

maybe to build a foundation for a race that has a longer distance, is more prestigious, and has bigger purse - but thats too obvious

So, are you saying that the winner of the prep race doesn't gain that same foundation?

The winner may need the graded earnings to get in so may be cranked up to peak for this effort to assure they get the earnings. Court Vision already has the earnings so they can take it easier with him and work towards a peak performance on Derby Day. Personally I think Court Vision will lose because he's too slow, not because he isn't cranked up but the more excuses I can give for the horse the more likely people are to continue burning money on him this year.