Strike Power to continue on the 2018 Kentucky Derby trail

For a colt that suffered his first career defeat Saturday, there was much to like about Strike Power’s effort in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes.

“We threw a lot of new stuff at him,” pointed out trainer Mark Hennig.

For the first time, Strike Power went two turns in a race, and did so with Good Magic, the reigning champion 2-year-old pinned to his outside at Gulfstream Park. He also sat behind a horse, following eventual winner Promises Fulfilled all the way in the 1 1/16-mile test.

A son of Speightstown, Strike Power showed connections he deserves another 2018 Kentucky Derby trail start.

“I try to temper it and take one race at a time,” Hennig said. “If he belongs in the Derby, he’ll earn his way, and we’re going to give him that opportunity.”

Hennig, who trains the homebred for Courtlandt Farms, said there’s a “good possibility” Strike Power continues on to the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 31. That race is likely to include Promises Fulfilled as well as Grade 2 Holy Bull winner Audible.

Strike Power “ate up everything and seemed great this morning,” beaten 2 1/4 lengths after chasing Promises Fulfilled through fractions of 23.80 seconds, 48.39 and 1:12.60.

“He’s a late April foal, so he’s young,” Hennig said. “He’s learning. Who knows where it will end up, but for now we’re content with the progress, and it remains to be seen if any of these want to go a mile and a quarter.”

Strike Power burst onto the scene thanks to a speedy performance in his Dec. 23 debut. He earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure going 5 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream. That figure still ranks third-best from the current 3-year-old crop. He then went on to score in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 3 before hitting the trail.

The Florida Derby will up the distance to 1 1/8 miles.

“He’d probably appreciate us running him back in a spot where he’s only got to stretch out another sixteenth rather than what we’ve been doing to him, adding three-sixteenths of a mile every race,” Hennig said. “He’ll probably appreciate something a little more familiar to him.”

Strike Power earned 20 points with his runner-up finish in the Fountain of Youth. Typically, more than 30 points in the recent era of Derby qualifying will get a horse in the gate at Churchill Downs.