My Favorite Fountains of Youth
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Zipse’s Kentucky Derby Daily - Day 70
Ever since I was a very young racing fan, I have always looked forward to The Fountain of Youth Stakes. Perhaps as a youngster it was the catchy name that caught me eye, but as the first serious Kentucky Derby prep for the Eastern three-year-olds, no doubt it has been the stature of the race has kept me a fan. At this time of year I also begin to break off from what I learned from two-year-old seasons, and start to form new more timely hypothesis on who will shine under the twin spires. Much like Ponce de Leon, I embark on a quest, and my official quest to discover the top Derby horses before the next guy begins at the Fountain of Youth.
I have seen many outstanding horses contest Gulfstream Park's Fountain of Youth over the years. Here are some of my favorite memories:
1985 - Proud Truth became my choice for the Kentucky Derby when he announced himself with an impressive rally that carried him to victory in the ‘85 Fountain of Youth. Injuries and poor racing luck prevented the Darby Dan colt from doing much in the Triple Crown, but he did score in the second ever Breeders’ Cup Classic to cap off his excellent season.
1990 - Shot Gun Scott may have won the race, but it was here that I first fell in love with Frances Genter’s Unbridled
. The big beautiful colt was bottled up like ketchup for much of the stretch, before busting through like a horse on a mission to miss victory by half a length. From that point on, I never doubted that he would be my Derby horse.
1997 - Pulpit
was a gorgeous son of A.P Indy who did not debut until January of his sophomore season. That did not prevent him from dominating the Fountain of Youth a month later in sparkling time. Unfortunately, physical issues kept the ultra talent from reaching his potential, but the Claiborne runner was as brilliant as anyone in the great foal crop of 1994 and has proved a superior sire.
Besides Spectacular Bid and Thunder Gulch, Kauai King and Tim Tam also used wins in the Fountain of Youth to propel themselves to winning two-thirds of the Triple Crown. Other notable winners of this race include Gen Duke, Bet Twice and Forty Niner, not to mention two colts who had their coming out parties in the last two editions, Quality Road and Eskendereya. Unfortunately neither of those colts would make it to the Kentucky Derby starting gate.
Will today’s Fountain of Youth show us something special and become an instant classic? We’ll find out in a few hours. Perhaps more importantly, will today’s race produce a Derby, Preakness, or Belmont champion? For that one we will have to wait a little, but we should get a better idea from how they run in one of my favorite Derby preps.
Ever since I was a very young racing fan, I have always looked forward to The Fountain of Youth Stakes. Perhaps as a youngster it was the catchy name that caught me eye, but as the first serious Kentucky Derby prep for the Eastern three-year-olds, no doubt it has been the stature of the race has kept me a fan. At this time of year I also begin to break off from what I learned from two-year-old seasons, and start to form new more timely hypothesis on who will shine under the twin spires. Much like Ponce de Leon, I embark on a quest, and my official quest to discover the top Derby horses before the next guy begins at the Fountain of Youth.
I have seen many outstanding horses contest Gulfstream Park's Fountain of Youth over the years. Here are some of my favorite memories:
1985 - Proud Truth became my choice for the Kentucky Derby when he announced himself with an impressive rally that carried him to victory in the ‘85 Fountain of Youth. Injuries and poor racing luck prevented the Darby Dan colt from doing much in the Triple Crown, but he did score in the second ever Breeders’ Cup Classic to cap off his excellent season.
1990 - Shot Gun Scott may have won the race, but it was here that I first fell in love with Frances Genter’s Unbridled
1997 - Pulpit
Besides Spectacular Bid and Thunder Gulch, Kauai King and Tim Tam also used wins in the Fountain of Youth to propel themselves to winning two-thirds of the Triple Crown. Other notable winners of this race include Gen Duke, Bet Twice and Forty Niner, not to mention two colts who had their coming out parties in the last two editions, Quality Road and Eskendereya. Unfortunately neither of those colts would make it to the Kentucky Derby starting gate.
Will today’s Fountain of Youth show us something special and become an instant classic? We’ll find out in a few hours. Perhaps more importantly, will today’s race produce a Derby, Preakness, or Belmont champion? For that one we will have to wait a little, but we should get a better idea from how they run in one of my favorite Derby preps.
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