Kentucky Derby - A Really Big Race Coming Up for Sophomores

If this is February, it must be Triple Crown season. Early? Yes! But remember it’s less than three months to the first Saturday in May.

I was surprised to see so many racing experts already have compiled their Top Whatever list of 3-year-olds likely to run in the 134th Kentucky Derby. I’m holding off on my Top 10 until the Ides of March (that’s March 15 as I stay true to Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”).

My key race before offering an opinion is the 62nd running of the Fountain of Youth (FOY) Stakes at Gulfstream Park. There’s at least a half-dozen sophomores with good credentials going in Sunday’s 1 1/8-mile contest.

The inaugural winner of this race in 1945 is long forgotten. Try finding a reference to Twenty Thirty who won by 1 ¼ lengths during Gulfstream’s third season when the purse was worth $5,000.

But four of the past 13 winners are well remembered since they went on to capture the Florida Derby: Scat Daddy, ’07; High Fly, ’05; Vicar, ’99; and Thunder Gulch, ’95, who later won the Kentucky Derby.At least a half-dozen talented colts hope the $350,000 FOY will spell success on the Road to the Roses.

Three are making the ’08 debut while three others have raced only once this year. The likely favorite is Court Vision, victorious at three different tracks last year that included two stakes triumphs.

The son of Gulch, fourth choice at 15-1 in Kentucky Derby Futures Pool 1, has been working well. The Bill Mott trainee posted a bullet 1:02 1/5 for five furlongs at Payson Park on Feb. 6.

Conditioner Todd Pletcher’s Monba, 16-1 in the futures pool, and Nick Zito’s Anal Nakal, 33-1, also are making their 3-year-old debut.

Anak Nakal is coming off a victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 24 in his third start. The son of Victory Gallop worked five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 at Palm Meadows Training Center on Feb. 16.

Monba is looking to rebound off a fourth place finish in the Cash Call Futurity at Hollywood Park on Dec. 22. The son of Maria’s Mon went six furlongs in 1:14 1/5 at Palm Beach Downs on Feb. 11.

Three contenders are coming off January victories. Adriano won a grass allowance route at Gulfstream by 6 ¾ lengths, but this will be his first trip on the dirt for trainer Graham Motion. The son of A.P. Indy went six furlongs in a snappy 1:12 3/5 at Palm Meadows on Feb. 16. Cool Coal Man, another Zito colt, won a 1 1/8 mile allowance contest at Gulfstream, rebounding from seventh in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. The son of Mineshaft, going for his fourth win in his last five starts, breezed four furlongs in 50 seconds at Palm Meadows on Feb. 7.

Elysium Fields broke his maiden fourth time out posting a double-digit speed figure at 1 1/8 miles. The son of El Prado, trained by Barclay Tagg, hasn’t been off the board in four starts. He worked six furlongs in 1:13 handily at Gulfstream on Feb. 12.

Another contender is Golden Spikes, trained by Marty Wolfson, who was second a length behind Cool Coal Man on Jan. 26. The son of Seeking the Gold, with two victories in five starts, went four furlongs in 48 3/5 handily at Calder Race Course on Feb. 9.

Unbeaten War Pass, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champ, appears sharp. The winner of five straight worked six furlongs in 1:13 1/5 handily at Palm Meadows on Feb. 16.

But Zito has opted to race the son of Cherokee Run against easier competition in an allowance contest on Saturday.

Zito is pointing War Pass to the Tampa Bay Derby on March 15 when he’ll take on Sam F. Davis winner Fierce Wind.

Last year, eventual Kentucky Derby champ Street Sense nosed out Any Given Saturday while setting the Tampa Bay Downs track record for 1 1/16 miles – 1:43 1/5.

Then War Pass will go to the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 4 before moving on to Churchill Downs.

Zito’s previous Kentucky Derby winners four years apart in the ’90s followed similar paths to Churchill Downs.

In ’91, Strike the Gold ran second in a Gulfstream allowance and was runner-up to Fly So Free in the Florida Derby. Then he captured the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in his final prep.

On that first Saturday in May, the son of Alydar won the 117th Kentucky Derby by 1 ¾ lengths over Best Pal.

In ’94, Zito’s Go for Gin was runner-up in the Fountain of Youth before finishing out of the money to Holy Bull in the Florida Derby. Then the son of Comorant ran second to Irgun in the Wood Memorial.

Ah, but on a sloppy surface at Louisville, Go for Gin went for the lead, set the pace and won the big one.