Practical Joke to start off in Fountain of Youth

Practical Joke will make his first start as a 3-year-old in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 4, and Jose Ortiz will have the mount, trainer Chad Brown said Wednesday.

Brown also had been considering the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on March 4 for Practical Joke’s first start on the Kentucky Derby trail.

“Ultimately, the decision was made because he’s thriving in south Florida, and I really don’t want to move the horse since he’s doing so well,” said Brown, who winters at the Palm Meadows training center.

Practical Joke has not run since finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He won two Grade 1 races last year, the Champagne and the Hopeful.

Ortiz got the mount because Joel Rosario, who rode Practical Joke in the Breeders’ Cup and the Champagne, has committed to Holy Bull winner Irish War Cry for the Fountain of Youth. Ortiz rode Practical Joke in the Hopeful.

The Fountain of Youth, at 1 1/16 miles, is also expected to attract such well-regarded 3-year-olds as Gunnevera and Three Rules. It is worth 85 qualifying points overall, including 50 to the winner, under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field for the Kentucky Derby on May 6.