Un Ojo
Laoban – Risk a Chance, by A.P. Indy
Bred in New York by Southern Equine Stables

Un Ojo sprang a $152.80 upset in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes last Saturday to earn his debut on the Derby Watch list. However, the New York-bred gelding is from a young sireline that has already had its share of classic success, and from a classy family that has produced several dirt route stakes winners.

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.

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, or merely sit tight until the Wood Memorial 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.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saffie Joseph Jr., who entered this week with a 41-37 lead over perennial leading trainer Todd Pletcher atop the 2021-22 championship meet standings, is looking for a big run in the Fountain of Youth on Saturday from A. P.’s Secret, a last-out allowance winner making his stakes debut. Joseph already has White Abarrio, winner of the Holy Bull, as a Derby contender.

“This is a big step up, and he’s going to have to prove himself,” Joseph said of A. P.’s Secret. “But we think he’s a colt with a lot of class and we’re confident he’s going to run a big race.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Horses on the Kentucky Derby trail typically need to overcome a hurdle or two. A few colts set to run Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park are fair examples.

Rattle N Roll, trained by Kenny McPeek, and the Dale Romans duo of Howling Time and Giant Game already have experienced minor physical setbacks on the Derby trail, but all are healed up and looking to put their best hooves forward in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A full and extremely contentious field of 12 3-year-olds, plus one also-eligible, was drawn Monday for Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park, the final key local prep for the $1 million Florida Derby on April 2. The mile and one-sixteenth fixture carries the added significance of offering 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, 50 of which are awarded to the winner.

The Fountain of Youth will go as the 12th event on a 13-race program Saturday that includes seven other graded stakes. 

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The most recent prep for the Kentucky Derby yielded a 75-1 winner when Un Ojo won the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park last Saturday.

A similar result Saturday in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park would be far-fetched, but with an expected full gate of 12, there will be some real longshots in the field, if only by mathematical necessity.

Straight Up G might have punched his ticket to the Grade 3, $500,000 Sunland Derby with his wire-to-wire win Sunday in the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park. 

“We’ll definitely be looking at the Sunland Derby,” winning trainer Richard Baltas said in an interview broadcast by Sunland Park.

The Mine That Bird Derby was the final local prep for the Sunland Derby on March 27. It also was one of four stakes on Sunday’s card, with Miss Hard Knocks winning the $75,000 Island Fashion in what served as the final local prep for the $300,000 Sunland Park Oaks. 

ARCADIA, Calif. – Slow Down Andy, winner of the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December but only sixth of 10 in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes on April 9 at Keeneland, trainer Doug O’Neill said over the weekend.

The Blue Grass is one of the leading preps for the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs.

Grade 2, $1 million Rebel Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn Park, Feb. 26, 2022
(50 Derby qualifying points for first, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)

Winner: Un Ojo, by Laoban
Trainer: Ricky Courville
Jockey: Ramon Vasquez
Owner: Cypress Creek Equine
Beyer Speed Figure: 84