Chance It nice and relaxed during Fountain of Youth work

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Chance It continued his preparations for the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on Feb. 29 by working five furlongs in 59.56 seconds on Sunday and galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.79 with jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard. The work was the third for Chance It since his victory over As Seen On Tv in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 4.

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“He worked good, we’re on target,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “Next week will be a stiffer work, after that an easier one, and we’re good to go. The biggest thing about him now is that he relaxes so well. That’s what I’m most proud about him. Usually I break him off about five or six lengths behind a target when he works. Today, I put him right next to the other horse, which normally makes him aggressive, but he did everything right. He was right on cue.”

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Joseph said he was glad to see a couple of horses Chance It defeated in the Mucho Macho Man – Smash Factor (allowance) and Sole Volante (Sam Davis Stakes) – come back to win over the past several days.

“He’s beaten good horses who have come back to win good races, which really validates him more than anything right now,” Joseph said.

Joseph also will be in action Saturday, sending Cookie Dough out for the first time as one of the favorites in the Grade 2 Royal Delta. Cookie Dough, who was transferred to Joseph’s barn from trainer Stanley Gold following her second-place effort in the Grade 3 Rampart on Dec. 14, blew out for the Royal Delta on Monday, zipping an easy three-eighths in 34.14 before galloping out four furlongs in 46.86. She worked fast, despite losing a shoe somewhere along the way.

“I think she’s going to run a big race,” Joseph said. “I really haven’t changed anything with her. If we can get her to run as good as Stanley did, that should be good enough.”

Cookie Dough’s competition in the 1 1/16-mile Royal Delta will include Coach Rocks, who likewise has changed barns since her last start. She is now under the tutelage of Todd Pletcher after being purchased privately by WinStar Stablemates Racing following her sixth-place finish in the Goldikova Stakes on the grass Nov. 3 at Santa Anita. Coach Rocks’s most important victory came in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks for trainer Dale Romans during the spring of her 3-year-old campaign.

“She’s been down here training pretty steadily since WinStar purchased her,” Pletcher said. “Classy filly. Dale did a great job with her. Just trying to keep her going. She’s run well on the dirt here, so this looks like a good spot.”