HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The much anticipated 3-year-old debut of reigning juvenile champion Forte will take place Saturday at Gulfstream Park when the top-rated Kentucky Derby hopeful goes a mile and one-sixteenth against eight rivals in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth. The Grade 2 fixture, which dates back to 1945, is the final event on a 14-race program that includes seven other graded stakes, including the Grade 2, $200,000 Davona Dale for 3-year-old fillies. The Fountain of Youth offers 100 Kentucky Derby points to be awarded on a 50-20-15-10-5 basis and will be part of a live broadcast on CNBC that airs from 4-6 p.m. Post time for the first race is 11:00 a.m. with the Fountain of Youth scheduled for 5:43 p.m. Forte is expected to go postward a prohibitive favorite despite not having started since sewing up divisional honors with his 1 1/2-length victory over Cave Rock and eight others in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Nov. 4. The win was the fourth in five starts for Forte, a son of Violence who is owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable. He also captured the Grade 1 Hopeful and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, with his lone setback at 2 a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Sanford in his second start. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Forte has had six works at his winter home, the Palm Beach Training Center, including a bullet five-eighths in 1:01.41 on Feb. 18. His preparations have gone flawlessly, according to trainer Todd Pletcher, who has won three editions of the Fountain of Youth but none since Itsaknockout’s victory in 2015. “He got a freshening at Stonestreet in Ocala after the Breeders’ Cup and they did a great job,” said Pletcher. “We laid out a breeze schedule targeting the Fountain of Youth and, knock on wood, everything has gone perfectly, according to plan. I love the way he’s been training; his last couple of breezes have been very good. He’s coming up to the race exactly the way we wanted him to.” The Fountain of Youth is the first of only two Derby preps Pletcher has mapped out for Forte, with the $1 million Florida Derby on April 1 next on the agenda if all goes well Saturday. Irad Ortiz Jr., who has ridden Forte in all five previous outings, again has the call. “With the type of seasoning he had as a 2-year-old, I’m very comfortable with two races leading up, hopefully, to the Derby,” Pletcher said. “You’ve always got to keep in mind the bigger goals this time of year while still trying to maintain their form and win races. I believe he is in a position to run very well on Saturday if he moves forward off some of his 2-year-old races, and at the moment I feel he looks like a deserving Derby favorite.” Blazing Sevens, another highly ranked Derby prospect, also makes his 3-year-old debut in the Fountain of Youth. He has been idle since finishing fourth, 5 1/4 lengths behind Forte, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Pinched back to last after the break, Blazing Sevens moved within two lengths of Forte on the final turn of the Juvenile but could not kick on after fanning out wide into the stretch. Trained by Chad Brown for Rock Creek Racing, Blazing Sevens had won the Grade 1 Champagne by 3 1/4 lengths over a sloppy track at Aqueduct in his previous start. “I didn’t feel he ran his best race [in the Juvenile] and I don’t think he had any excuses that day,” Brown said. “I know he is better than that.” Blazing Sevens has also recorded six works preparing for his return, all at Payson Park, capped off by five furlongs in 1:01.60 last Saturday morning. Joel Rosario will be aboard the son of Good Magic for the first time on Saturday. “The horse is doing fine,” Brown said. “I am pleasantly surprised how well he has done over the winter.” The Fountain of Youth lineup includes five of the seven horses who contested the Grade 3 Holy Bull, also at 1 1/16 miles, four weeks earlier, including Bill Mott-trained stablemates Rocket Can and Shadow Dragon. Rocket Can won the Holy Bull by three-quarters of a length over runner-up Shadow Dragon. Rocket Can has improved dramatically since stretching out around two turns for the first time to win his maiden at Churchill Downs on Oct. 30. Mott said Rocket Can has recovered from his effort in the Holy Bull. “A lot of times those races kind of tire them out, but he seems to have come back good, so hopefully now he moves forward a little bit more,” Mott said. Shadow Dragon had only two starts before rallying from last to finish second as a 34-1 outsider in the Holy Bull. Cyclone Mischief finished a tiring seventh as the 6-5 favorite in the Holy Bull following a 90-Beyer one-mile allowance win here in his 3-year-old debut. General Jim won the Grade 3 Swale going seven furlongs on the Holy Bull undercard and has won twice going 1 1/16 miles. Both of those wins came on the turf, at Saratoga and Keeneland, early in his 2-year-old campaign. General Jim’s status for the Fountain of Youth was up in the air after he missed a scheduled work due to a mild cough that developed on Sunday, according to trainer Shug McGaughey. :: Get ready for Gulfstream Park racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  Mage has been training forwardly, according to Gustavo Delgado Jr., the assistant to his father. In his only start, Mage registered a very impressive victory going seven furlongs here on Jan. 28, earning an 89 Beyer Speed Figure. His connections are confident he’ll be able to stretch his speed around two turns. He figures to be part of the early pace along with Legacy Isle, who finished a tiring fourth after prompting the pace in the Holy Bull. Legacy Isle will race without blinkers for the first time on Saturday. Rounding out the field is the outsider Il Miracolo, who finished a distant fifth in the Holy Bull. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.