Todd Pletcher and the Donegal Racing partnership that owns Mo Donegal had been on the fence on whether to run in the Fountain of Youth on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, or merely sit tight until the Wood Memorial on April 9 at Aqueduct. Drawing post 12 on Monday gave them more to think about. And then on Wednesday morning, as Pletcher said, “sometimes decisions are made for you.” Mo Donegal, third most recently in the Holy Bull, had “a low-grade temperature of 102” degrees, Pletcher said, and thus will be scratched from the Fountain of Youth. “We probably would have scratched anyway with post 12, but this made the decision for us,” Pletcher said. “He’s on target to head straight to the Wood. That’s the most likely scenario.” Making good decisions, moving his many chess pieces to the right spot, has been a rite of spring for Pletcher for more than 20 years now. Per usual, this year he has multiple candidates for the May 7 Kentucky Derby, with four of them – Emmanuel, Major General, Mo Donegal, and Pioneer of Medina – on the current Derby Watch top 20. He tries to place them so as to maximize their chances of getting to Churchill Downs while procuring stakes wins en route. No trainer plays this part of the game better. Pletcher, a two-time Derby winner, has had a record 59 starters in the Derby. Some of them were top-class candidates, many were longshots who qualified by being cleverly placed in preps that afforded them the opportunity to get enough earnings (the old method) or points (the current method) to make the starting field. How good has he been? Consider that Pletcher, a Hall of Famer, is the record holder for wins among trainers for the Florida Derby (six wins), Sam Davis (six wins), Arkansas Derby (five wins), and Tampa Bay Derby (five wins), and he’s tied for most Blue Grass wins with three. He has won the Wood Memorial six times, one behind the all-time leader, the legendary Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons. He’s won the Holy Bull twice. And he owns three wins in the Fountain of Youth and two in the Gotham, two of the stakes this Saturday, and he has runners in both those races. Even with Mo Donegal out of the Fountain of Youth, Pletcher still has a terrific chance to win the race with Emmanuel. Emmanuel won on debut at Gulfstream in December, then won an allowance race at Tampa on Jan. 30, so he seemingly could have run in the Fountain of Youth, or awaited the Tampa Bay Derby one week later, on March 12. “The timing was good for this week because it gives us more options on the other side,” said Pletcher, who said he’s in constant communication with his clients to discuss options. “It puts him in position to possibly come back in the Florida Derby, which is important because it’s a Grade 1, but if he needs more time he could go in the Blue Grass or the Wood Memorial.” The Florida Derby is April 2, the Blue Grass and Wood one week later. With Emmanuel in the Fountain of Youth, Major General was thus targeted to the Tampa Bay Derby. Both colts are owned in part by WinStar Farm, so being able to keep them apart was desirous. “The Tampa Bay Derby, for the past three weeks, timing-wise looked like the best place to run,” Pletcher said. “This gives him a chance to have another work this weekend.” :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2022: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Major General has not raced since Sept. 18, when he won the first points-scoring race toward the 2022 Derby, the Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, that following a debut win at Saratoga. Pletcher said Major General has been off owing to “baby issues that needed a little time.” Pioneer of Medina, fourth most recently in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds, could return to New Orleans for the Louisiana Derby in three weeks, but much will depend on how he trains, Pletcher said. “It’s still a possibility, it’s high on the list, but there are other options,” he said, rattling off the Wood, Blue Grass, Arkansas Derby, and Florida Derby, all part of the final round of preps worth, like the Louisiana Derby, 170 points overall, with 100 to the winner. Pletcher also is looking at options for the talented, lightly raced Charge It to jump into stakes competition. Charge It, who romped against maidens in his second start Feb. 12 at Gulfstream, will have his plans made, Pletcher said, after evaluating the ramifications of the Fountain of Youth. “The question will be whether to run in a prep like the Tampa Bay Derby, and then have time for another race, or just give him one more race before the Derby,” Pletcher said. “He’ll breeze this weekend, we’ll watch the Fountain of Youth, and see how things shake out.”