Code of Honor, the winner of the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, came out of the race well and will make his next start in either the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream on March 30 or the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct one week later, trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday morning at Gulfstream.
With just 63 days until the Kentucky Derby, those in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park knew what was at stake as race time neared.
Disappointment was etched on Bill Mott’s face, but not too deep. He knows the racing game all too well.
Some have justifiably been disappointed with the Derby prep performances we have witnessed through January and February. Yet that sentiment is likely to change as calendar pages turn over to March. We are just more than a week away from the 3-year-old debuts of last year’s leading juveniles Game Winner and Improbable. Yet one week prior to their returns, we will see an intriguing cast of characters line up for this Saturday’s Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.
A little more than a week after Hidden Scroll announced his presence to the world with a romping, 14-length debut victory at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 26, his Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott, was musing that he was “going to ruin my reputation. Can't win first time. Can't win the Derby,” he said, laughing.
They have names like Boomerang and Big Loop, Comet and Corkscrew, Tornado and Velocity. The road to the Kentucky Derby has so many twists and turns, it's like a roller-coaster ride. So, perhaps the most-appropriate horse for this time of the year is one named for the manufacturer of roller coasters bearing those monikers.
Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Vekoma
Global Campaign is among the most intriguing players Saturday in a fascinating renewal of the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.
Global Campaign, who just missed making the cut last week, moves into the top 20 owing to the defection of Maximus Mischief. He is scheduled to make his stakes debut on Saturday at Gulfstream in the Fountain of Youth, a race that has lured six current members of the Derby Watch top 20.
The Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Instagrand drilled seven furlongs at Santa Anita for his 2019 debut, the San Felipe Stakes on March 9. Also on the work tab were top Kentucky Derby contenders as well as fellow San Felipe prospects Game Winner and Improbable, who went six furlongs for trainer Bob Baffert
