Forte ‘on target' for Fountain of Youth after five-furlong work
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Reigning juvenile champion Forte worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:01.40 in company with older stablemate Iron Works on Saturday at his winter home at Palm Beach Downs. The work was the fifth for Forte since he clinched divisional honors with a 1 1/2-length victory over Cave Rock in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in November.
“I thought the work was very, very good,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He finished up super strong. I had 23 and 2 the last quarter followed by a big gallop-out. He surprises you with his fitness level. We were on the schedule we wanted to be on, but from what I saw today, he’s ahead of schedule now.
“We’ve still got one more work to go, but right now we’re definitely on target for the Fountain of Youth.”
The Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth will be run here March 4.
Forte earned a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure for his performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, capping off a 2-year-old campaign during which he captured four of five starts, including earlier Grade 1 victories in the Hopeful and Breeders’ Futurity. His lone setback was a fourth-place finish in the six-furlong Sanford. The son of Violence is owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable.
Pletcher also worked the lightly raced Kentucky Derby contender Tapit Trice at Palm Beach Downs on Saturday. Tapit Trice breezed an easy half-mile in 50.80. It was his first breeze since an eye-catching eight-length allowance victory here on Feb. 4. Tapit Trice is owned by Whisper Hill Farm and his breeder, Gainesway Thoroughbreds.
“I’m not 100 percent sure what we’ll do with him next,” Pletcher said. “I’ll talk to the owners and we’ll come up with a plan, although I’d like to keep the two horses separated for now. I think he’s a pretty good horse, pretty versatile, so I’m not too concerned where we run him. If we didn’t have Forte in the Fountain of Youth, that would be the logical spot. The Tampa Bay Derby is a week later, so that’s a possibility.”
Grade 1 Champagne winner Blazing Sevens, a troubled fourth in the Juvenile, also worked five furlongs on Saturday, completing the distance in a bullet 1:02.20 at Payson Park. He could be headed for a rematch with Forte in the Fountain of Youth. Blazing Sevens is ranked third, one spot below Forte, in the most recent edition of Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch.
Leave No Trace, who finished second behind champion 2-year-old filly Wonder Wheel in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, is also expected to kick off her 3-year-old season here a week from Saturday in the Grade 2 Davona Dale. She got in a stamina-enhancing one-mile breeze over the main track here Sunday in 1:48.01 with regular exercise rider Lisa Bartkowski aboard. Leave No Trace had her two previous works over the Tapeta course.
“Coming off that lightning-fast Tapeta, she needed to get something done on dirt,” trainer Phil Serpe said. “She will come back next week and breeze a half.”
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