Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Longtime Hialeah Park owner John Brunetti Sr. dies.
The exalted place the Kentucky Derby trail has in racing is on display today at Gulfstream Park. Nine stakes are scheduled. Some are prestigious enough to have stood on their own as a weekend feature in years past.
However they all fade into the background as the racing world will be fixated on the Fountain of Youth, in which Juvenile champion Good Magic, the early Kentucky Derby favorite, makes his 3-year-old debut against nine rivals.
Good Magic comes in off a four-month layoff since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by more than four lengths in his only try around two turns. Chad Brown has said he wants his colt’s peak effort on the first Saturday in May, not the first Saturday in March, but the back-to-back Eclipse Award winning trainer doesn’t send out horses short on conditioning.
An indication of Good Magic’s fitness level came last Saturday. The 4-year-old Economic Model, who has been Good Magic’s workmate this winter, returned from a four-month layoff to run away with the Hal’s Hope Stakes. Those who witnessed the works say the older horse had a hard time keeping up with Good Magic.
In addition to the bulk of the $400,000 purse, the winner of the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth earns 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Good Magic has 24 from his 2-year-old stakes exploits, so a win or even a second, which is worth 20 points, should be enough to guarantee a slot in the Derby starting gate. Jose Ortiz, who rode Good Magic at the Breeders’ Cup as well as a second in the Grade 1 Champagne, retains the mount.
Dale Romans has entered three Derby hopefuls.The most accomplished, Free Drop Billy, has the advantage of a race over the track. The Grade 1 winner ran second to Audible in the Holy Bull four weeks ago in his 2018 debut. Robbie Albarado, Romans’ go-to rider in Kentucky, who was aboard Free Drop Billy in his first five races but not the Holy Bull, returns.
Promises Fulfilled also comes in off a layoff since November when he ran third in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes after winning his first two starts. With Promises Fulfilled saddled with the 10 post, Irad Ortiz will be challenged not to be forced wide going to the first turn of the mile and a sixteenth race.
Romans’ third hopeful is the rapidly improving Storm Runner, a winner of two of his three main track starts. Joel Rosario will be aboard.
The potential sleeper is the wickedly fast Strike Power, who has won his two career starts, both sprints, by almost 11 lengths without being pressed. A son of crack sprinter Speightstown, he is being asked to handle two turns and 330 yards longer than he has raced. However, Gulfstream traditionally favors early speed and the stretch run is shorter than usual due to the use of the auxiliary finish line further up the stretch. Luis Saez has the assignment of trying to harness Strike Power’s speed.
A victory by any of the others would muddle the Kentucky Derby picture. He Takes Charge, Machismo, Peppered and Marconi each has only a maiden win. Gotta Go was a non-threatening second behind Strike Power in the Swale.
A marathon 14-race program has a special early post of 11:30 a.m. The first stakes, The Very One, goes as race 4. The Fountain of Youth, which will be featured on a Fox Sports telecast at 6 p.m., is the final race on the card with an approximate post of 6:10 p.m.