Greatest Honour leaves no doubt

Greatest Honour left no doubt that he is the outstanding Kentucky Derby hopeful in Florida on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Away slowly, sluggish in the middle stages and still ahead of only two of nine rivals late in the final turn, he ignited an electrifying rally to win the $300,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes going away.

Jockey Jose Ortiz was actually able to take him in hand in the final stages, making his 1 -length winning margin misleading.

Drain the Clock, whose only defeat in five starts was when he lost his rider, took the lead from the start and appeared to have victory within reach until Greatest Honour blew by him in mid-stretch. Drain the Clock did manage to hold the place, with Papetu grabbing the show money.

“He overcame stuff that other horses can’t,” trainer Shug McGaughey said in the winner’s circle.

Acknowledging his colt’s late-running style, the trainer said, “I’m glad we won’t have to run a mileand-a-sixteenth anymore.”

The March 27 Florida Derby, which is next for Greatest Honour, is 110 yards longer at 1 ⅛ miles.

“That’s our next stop,” McGaughey said. “It’s the one we are pointing to.”

It will be Greatest Honour’s final prep for the big one, the 1 -mile

Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.

Vequist, the 2020 Eclipse champion juvenile filly, failed badly in her 3-year-old debut in the Davona Dale stakes. Sent off at odds-on, she beat only one horse in the field of 10 as 52-1 shot Wholebodemeister went wire-to-wire under Edward Zayas.

Todd Pletcher, who has won 16 of the past 17 Gulfstream training titles, padded his lead atop this year’s standings with four wins, including a pair of stakes.

Alas, Pletcher-trained Prime Factor was no factor in the Fountain of Youth, failing to finish in the money.