February 27th 2016

Today at Gulfstream Park, three Derby Trail horses put their undefeated records on the line in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes : race favorite Mohaymen (4 starts, 4 wins), Awesome Banner (3 wins in 3 starts) and Todd Pletcher’s Zulu (2 wins in 2 starts). Awesome Speed has won his last three starts and Fellowship finished 3rd to Mohaymen in the Holy Bull Stakes back on January 30th. The race will award 50-20-10-5 points to the 1st-2nd-3rd-4th place finishers. Click HERE to see the current leaderboard.

Fountain of Youth – 1 1/16th Mile – Race #12 at Gulfstream Park – Post Time: 4:30 PM CST

PP horse (weight) jockey/trainer/Odds
1. Fellowship (116) Lezcano/Gold – 20/1
2. Zulu (116) Velazquez/Pletcher – 3/1
3. Golden Ray (116) Vasquez/Rodriquez – 30/1
4. Awesome Speed (120) Ortiz/Goldberg – 4/1
5. Awesome Banner (120) Caraballo/Gold – 7/2
6. Mohaymen (120) Alvarado/McLaughlin – 6/5

Commentary: Overall, I expect another win by Mohaymen but I don’t have a good feel for who will finish 2nd. Zulu has only raced in two sprint races (7 furlongs or less) and his last start was on a sloppy sealed track. So I am not sure how he will respond on a dry, fast track stretching out another 1 1/2 furlongs. Awesome Speed has won at Gulfstream at a 1-Mile distance in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes back on January 2nd.

My Superfecta pick would be 6-2-1-5 but don’t make a huge wager on this one as I see this race as wide-open and unpredictable from positions 2nd through 4th. If Fellowship’s odds stay around 20-1, it would be tempting to place a 6-1 straight Exacta. I think the pace will be faster than the Holy Bull Stakes, so I expect Mohaymen to win this one with a time under 1:42.

–Michael