Kentucky Derby Prep, Fountain of Youth Stakes

Horse racing fans won’t want to miss the biggest race of the week this Sunday at Gulfstream Park. (AI Wire Image)

The Fountain of Youth Stakes, a Grade 2, with a $350,000 purse up for grabs will be the show place for Kentucky Derby hopefuls, with nearly a dozen 3-year-olds expected to be entered Thursday in the 1 1/8-mile race with several considered among the best three-year-olds.

This is an important prep race for the $1 million Florida Derby on March 29. In the past 13 years, four Fountain of Youth winners captured Gulfstream’s premier stakes: 2007 was Scat Daddy; 2005-High Fly; 1999-Vicar; and in 1995 Thunder Gulch, who later went on to win the Kentucky Derby.

Some of the horses the Fountain of Youth field expects to include are: Golden Spikes who completed his prep for this weekend’s stakes at Calder; Cool Coal Man, who was a winner of three of his last four starts; Monba will be making his 2008 debut and will be ridden by Edgar Prado.

Other names you may see on Sunday are Adriano, Anak Nakal, Court Vision, Elysium Fields, Kentucky Bear, Make the Point and Majestic Warrior.

Post-time for the Fountain of Youth Stakes is scheduled for 6:15 pm EST. Get your Kentucky Derby odds in the Bodog Racebook.