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Horse Racing Betting - Fountain of Youth Stakes
By Jordan WaltersWagerWeb.com Contributing Writer
| Horse Racing Betting at WagerWeb Racebook |
The key Kentucky Derby prep race this weekend is at Miami's Gulfstream Park with the $250,000 Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes.
Court Vision, Monba and Anak Nakal are the top three prospects racing.
While Court Vision, who captured his final three starts of last year, is the likely favorite, keep an eye on the Todd Pletcher-trained Monba.
Monba had two wins and a fourth-place finish in the CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park to complete his 2007 campaign. That has put Monba on the short list of top contenders for the Kentucky Derby.
Monba's best race to date actually may have been that fourth-place finish in the Grade I CashCall, when he was slammed into at the start, dropping far back in 10th. Appearing to be hopelessly out of it, he closed like a freight train to finish fourth, beaten 2 1⁄4 lengths, galloping out well clear of his rivals.
Pletcher's top 3-year-old prospect worked six furlongs in 1:14.60 at Palm Beach Downs on Monday.
"He went well in what was his final major piece of work for the Fountain of Youth," Pletcher said. "He's had a good break since the Hollywood Futurity, and we're encouraged that he's the kind of horse who looks like he'll stay the distance."
Pletcher could sure use some luck in the Kentucky Derby. In the weeks leading up to last year's Run for the Roses, he won the Fountain of Youth Stakes, Florida Derby, Illinois Derby, and Louisiana Derby. He sent out five horses in the Kentucky Derby - Any Given Saturday, Circular Quay, Cowtown Cat, Sam P., and Scat Daddy - to no avail, leaving Pletcher 0 for 19 in the Derby.
Yet, as Pletcher cautioned during his pre-Derby stakes run last year, and he reiterated this week, those bouquets in March and April do not guarantee roses in May.
"We've got some promising horses coming around, but at this stage we're not four or five deep, with horses showing up in every Derby prep," Pletcher said. "Last year, at this stage, we were holding a stronger hand than it appears we are now. We did well in a lot of the preps, but on Derby Day, none of them performed as well as we had hoped."
As for Monba, who is 16-1 in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, Pletcher said he is "training more forwardly than he has in the past."
"He's more focused than he was as a 2-year-old, but he'll continue to run in blinkers," said Pletcher, who has put blinkers on Monba for all his races to date.
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