Saturday we will see the last preview of the Florida Derby with the celebration of the Fountain Of Youth with a prize of 400,000 dollars. The group of twelve competitors includes from participating steeds and winners of degree races, to copies that do not know the circle of winners in their short career.
Shotski has a very slight advantage over his opponents, thanks to his triumph in the Remsen (grade 2 race). This result is above that obtained by Dennis ’Moment, who won the Iriquois, a race with which the road to the Kentucky Derby began, then was lost among the 14 participants of BC Juvenile after a bad game.
Both steeds will not have their usual riders, since Luis Sáez and Irad Ortiz will be fulfilling other commitments. So Jeremiah O’Dwyer and Dale Romans moved their contacts and signed two luxury relays. The first (Shotski) grabbed the ballot of John Velázquez, while the second (Dennis ’Moment) signed the current French Flavien Prat leader of Southern California.
Ahead of them we see Chance It, who has shone in exclusive races for Florida-born specimens, being the stellar race Saturday its real litmus test.
Before witnessing the outcome of the main chapter, several quota races will take place, among which the Gulfstream Park Mile stands out, proof that marks the return of Haikal, that representative of Shadwell Stable who was one of the main candidates for the Kentucky Derby of the last year. Mr. Freeze is part of the platoon and is the enemy to win.
Mac Diarmide has in Sadler’s Joy its most eminent contestant. The son of Kitten’s Joy came out of the Pegasus World Cup Turf experiment very badly, where all the participants made their effort without any drop of medication and the result was not favorable for the student of Thomas Albertrani. On Saturday he will demonstrate that he is still the warrior who will always fight, ridden by the Venezuelan Javier Castellano.