HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times on Fountain of Youth day a year ago for trainer Todd Pletcher. The Hall of Fame trainer sent out four winners on the Gulfstream Park card only to have that success tempered when his two entrants, Locked and Speak Easy, were scratched from the Fountain of Youth the day of the race, Speak Easy after running off and injuring himself in the post parade.
Pletcher is positioned to have another big day on Saturday’s Fountain of Youth card with one or more horses entered in nine of the 14 races, including a pair of promising 3-year-olds, River Thames and Gate to Wire, in the Grade 2 headliner. Both figure to be primary rivals for likely favorite Burnham Square in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Derby prep that also features the 2025 debut of the highly regarded Sovereignty for trainer Bill Mott.
The Fountain of Youth, which offers 105 Derby qualifying points, lured a field of eight, of which only seven will start with Solid Left having competed in an entry-level allowance here Thursday. The Fountain of Youth will be decided as the 13th race on an outstanding card that includes nine stakes, eight of which are graded. First post is 11:30 a.m.
River Thames and Gate to Wire bring solid credentials into the race. River Thames is undefeated and virtually untested in two starts. Gate to Wire is coming off an explosive five-length victory in the Swale Stakes while making his first start on dirt. Both have a distance question to answer when making their two-turn debuts.
:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more
Pletcher has been playing catch-up with River Thames, who did not make his first start until Jan. 11, when he drew off to a 4 3/4-length victory in a six-furlong maiden special weight dash for which he was awarded a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. He was equally impressive returning just three weeks later on the Holy Bull undercard to win a one-mile optional-claiming and allowance race by 6 1/2 lengths that earned a 92 Beyer.
“We had a little setback [last summer] up at Saratoga. He was almost ready to run,” Pletcher recalled. “Everything’s gone well since he’s come back. This will be his third race in seven weeks with a step up in class and in distance. But he seemed to win his [first two] races pretty easy.”
Gate to Wire launched his career making three starts on turf, including a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Futurity at Aqueduct. But he improved dramatically when switched to the main track for the seven-furlong Swale, pulling away readily through the stretch as a 13-1 outsider while posting a 93 Beyer.
“He had trained well on both surfaces last summer and we finally thought it was time to try him on the dirt,” Pletcher explained.
As for the added distance, Pletcher said, “Munnings seems to be getting horses that are running on all surfaces at different distances and he has a lot of stamina on the bottom of his pedigree.”
Distance is certainly not an issue for Burnham Square, who has won each of his last two starts at 1 1/16 miles, with both victories coming after trainer Ian Wilkes put blinkers on the son of Liam’s Map for his juvenile finale. Burnham Square responded to the equipment change with a nine-length maiden win here Dec. 28, followed by a visually impressive 1 3/4-length triumph over Tappan Street in the Grade 3 Holy Bull, during which he overcome a sluggish start and lots of adversity along the way.
“It’s like night and day with the blinkers. He was just making mistakes in his races. He wouldn’t help the jockey. He wouldn’t go near horses or run into the dirt. He wouldn’t do anything until down the lane,” Wilkes said. “We’ve still got some little things to work on with him but he’s put on weight and done real well since the last start. And distance is certainly no problem for him. The farther they go, the better it is for him.”
Sovereignty and Keep It Easy closed out their 2-year-old campaigns with one-sided stakes wins at Churchill Downs – Sovereignty going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Street Sense, Keep It Easy in the 6 1/2-furlong Ed Brown. Neither have started since, which could put them at a disadvantage.
Sovereignty has prepped for his comeback with six works at Payson Park, including five furlongs in 1:02.20 on Sunday.
“He’s doing well and it’s time to run. We’re not thinking its imperative for him to win this race, but I’d like to see him run well and come running at the end,” said Mott. “I think our only real disadvantage coming into this race is the short stretch. So far he’s been a good stretch runner and they don’t have much of a stretch going a mile and a sixteenth at Gulfstream.”
Neoequos figures to prompt the early pace but is yet another member of the lineup whose ability to carry his speed around two turns could be an issue. He has never been beyond seven furlongs in five previous starts.
Neoequos was stakes-placed twice at 2 while having the misfortune of catching the freaky-fast and undefeated Rated by Merit when second best in both the Dr. Fager and Affirmed divisions of the 2024 Stallion Sire Series.
Run-up distances changed
Gulfstream Park management has announced that, effective immediately, there will be an additional run-up of 85 feet added to the start of all 1 1/16-mile races and 53 feet for all future races run at 1 1/8 miles over the main track.
The change will have its first significant impact with Saturday’s running of the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.
According to Bill Badgett, executive director of Florida racing operations at Gulfstream, the change was made at the behest of the local jockey colony, as it gives horses a little longer distance to travel before they enter the clubhouse turn.
The new policy will not only make for safer conditions for horses and riders, but should potentially negate some of the disadvantage of drawing outside posts in races run at those distances, as has been the case since the track was reconfigured nearly 20 years ago.
The most notable examples of the post-position disadvantage are the $3 million Pegasus World Cup and $1 million Florida Derby, both of which are carded at nine furlongs.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.