The Fountain Of Youth Stakes (KYD) (Grade 2)- $400.000 Purse
GP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
March 5, 2022
The Fountain Of Youth was full of impressive horses, and Sunshine Scooter deserved the right to be considered one of them after he finished third in the Holy Bull but we had the feeling that he might get lost in the shuffle a little bit. He would go off at odds at 15/1, and after six furlongs of this race, pretty much everyone was ready to forget about him. After all, you don’t win virtual races from that far back anymore, right? Well, Sunshine Scooter would do exactly that, letting the fast pace collapse in front of him as he would go on to win by a length. This colt is trained by Broken Spoke Stables, and they celebrate 50 KYD points and their first Fountain Of Youth victory. E S Prado is also a first time winner of the race! Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:41.68, which is in line with other recent times. Let’s take a look at it!
(¼ Mile- :22.51)- We have ourselves a fast pace here in the Fountain Of Youth as Rogue Commando shoots out of the gate for Mb Stables and opens up a length lead. But he has some nearby company as Effrayant, out of RNP Stables, and Fifty Lucky, from D J C Racing Stables, are right behind him, also willing to run a fast early fraction. After a gap of around five lengths, we have Present Tense, the Mb Stables filly looking to score another big prep win. Puissance de La Mer was next, and along her inside for Big Guns Stables, and Smokey Stover’s Gigabyte was nearby on the rail. Behind them, Ideal Info (Arindel) and Mr Nix Nooks (Martyparty) ran side by side with Burnsuwhenitshot (TwinTowersRacing) running close to them. The final three ran three wide, and on the inside here was our eventual winner, Sunshine Scooter, with the Broken Spoke Stables colt officially trailing by nine at this point. Humble And Forgiving (Mb Stables) and Cheveley Park (Mo Mentum Farm) were right there with him.
(½ Mile- :45.38)- It’s all Rogue Commando out in front, continuing to run fast and he extends his lead over Effrayant and Fifty Lucky to be about two and a half lengths as those two seem to realize that they should reel it in a little bit. They still have a nice cushion over fourth, which remains the filly, Present Tense. Not much has changed with her closest competitors, but is worth noting now that the trailer is Sunshine Scooter, and he is all by himself back there, now off the pace by eleven lengths!
(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- At the top of the turn, and moving around it, there is no one getting up there to challenge Rogue Commando. The others seem to be confident that he will come back to them, and as we get closer to the stretch, he still led by three to four lengths, so just maybe he would be able to hang on. The horses that were caught were Effrayant and Fifty Lucky, and while they still held those positions, the rest of the field had erased their deficit to them, so passing them would be inevitable. Gigabyte would now be the one leading that charge as he held the rail, but Present Tense was running with him. Puissance de La Mer, Ideal Info, and Humble And Forgiving were holding their lines, and Cheveley Park was hanging with them. However, the explosive one here was Sunshine Scooter, beginning his run while within the turn and now running about six wide. There was still a lot of ground for him to make up, but being just a length behind Gigabyte and Present Tense showed just how well he was coming on.
(Finish- 1:41.68)- Rogue Commando tries to hang on, and clearly was out of gas. But there was not a lot of time left to get to the wire, so just maybe he would be able to do it. It wasn’t for Sunshine Scooter, he would have. But the Broken Spoke Stables entry still was able to maintain the powerful kick that he had displayed in the turn, and was coming on quickly to the leader. With a less than a furlong to go, he was a length ahead of everyone else, so at that point, you knew no one else would be winning behind him. And that’s with Gigabyte and Present Tense being in good stride themselves. At the line, Sunshine Scooter scores his biggest win here in the Sunshine State, winning this by a length over Rogue Commando who somehow hung on to second. Gigabyte is a clear third, with Present Tense picking up some more points in fourth. Ideal Info edges out Chevely Park and Puissance de La Mer for fifth. FInishing it out, it’s Humble And Forgiving, Fifty Lucky, Effrayant, Mr Nix Nooks, and Burnsuwhenitshot.
About The Winner- Sunshine Scooter, trained by Broken Spoke Stables, and ridden to victory by E S Prado, is a three year old colt by Chai Latte and is out of English Delight. He was bred in Florida as a third quarter two year old and they have been together throughout! Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in six starts, his second stake win, and first graded win. His career earnings are now $337.600.
Track: Fast
Time: :222 :451 1:09 1:413
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 6 – 7 Paid 63.90
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 7 – 1 Paid 478.20
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
