The Fountain of Youth lost three leading contenders when Speak Easy, Locked, and Victory Avenue were all scratched before the race. Locked and Victory Avenue were taken out of the race Saturday morning. Speak Easy was a late scratch after getting loose in the post parade. He hit the rail and suffered lacerations, according to the track veterinarian.
The changes left Dornoch as the 1-5 favorite competing against four other 3-year-olds in the 1 1/16-mile race. He broke well under Luis Saez and immediately went to the front, where he set fractions of :24.39, :48.14, 1:11.43 and 1:36.95.
"We didn't want to be on the lead, but when the 1 horse [Speak Easy] scratched, I went down, I told Luis 'Just go now,'" said trainer Danny Gargan . "We had no choice. We really wanted to stalk today but it didn't work out that way."
The Fountain of Youth provided qualifying points toward the May 4 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to its top finishers. Dornoch earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. He now has 60 qualifying points, which should give him enough to make the field.
Finishing second just 1 3/4 lengths behind the winner was 27-1 longshot Le Dom Bro, who earned 25 Derby qualifying points. Third was 5-1 shot Frankie's Empire. Real Macho finished fourth and Dancing Groom was last of five.
"I felt like I was on a monster the whole way," Saez said. "Dornoch is a pretty fast horse. He can run anywhere. We just let Dornoch run. He did it pretty easy."
Dornoch improved to 3-2-0 in five starts with his third straight win, which includes the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct on Dec. 2.
"I don't think he ran very hard," Gargan said of his colt's effort in the Fountain of Youth. "He was just kind of playing around out there."
"We're lucky enough now, we can pick our spot," Gargan said. "We have 60 points, and that usually gets you in. So now we're on cruise control and figure out where we go next."
-- By Charlie McCarthy
2024 Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. March 2nd, 2024
