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As U.S. racing fans turn their attention to thoughts of this summer's Triple Crown, so Florida's Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on 2nd March hoves into view.
An historic Kentucky Derby prep race first run in 1945 and currently contested as a Grade 2 over 1 1/16 miles, it awards 50 Derby qualification points to the winner, essentially making the race a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Kentucky Derby. Todd Pletcher is a four-time Fountain of Youth winning trainer, including last year with Forte, and has eleven entries in the 30-strong nominations list revealed this week.
Earlier this month, the G3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park saw a huge upset, when Hades upended two year-old form to beat odds-on favourite Fierceness, last year's champion two-year-old colt. Sierra Leone replaced Fierceness as the ante-post favourite for the Kentucky Derby 2024, with Dornoch second choice in some books, and we're likely to see how the latter is looking at Gulfstream as trainer Danny Gargan is pointing him at the Fountain of Youth.
He's set to come up against another much-fancied two-year-old Locked, who triumphed in last season's Breeders' Futurity. Fierceness still also holds an entry but will likely skip and go straight for the Florida Derby.
Fountain of Youth day at Gulfstream showcases seven other graded races besides the $400,000 highlight. With racing all afternoon at the East Coast timezone, the racing is a perfectly timed addition to European race meets.
