UNION RAGS WINS THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH STAKES!

Union Rags made his three-year-old debut a winning one, blowing past Discreet Dancer and News Pending at the top of the stretch before coasting home to an easy victory in the $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II).

Unraced since finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) last November, Union Rags was sent off as the 6-5 second choice in the Fountain of Youth, behind only the undefeated Todd Pletcher-trainee Discreet Dancer. Under a perfect ride from new rider Julien Leparoux, Union Rags broke quickest of all, but soon settled back into the fourth position as Discreet Dancer set the early pace. News Pending, who broke just a step slowly, was rushed into contention by jockey Kent Desormeaux, rallying past horses on the far outside before settling into the second position. Casual Trick was racing in third toward the rail, with Union Rags right on his outside. Fort Loudon was sitting in fifth, followed by Neck 'n Neck, who had attempted to secure racing room along the rail before being forced to steady off heels. Csaba was content to trail early on.

TRIPLE CROWN COUNTDOWN -- February 26th, 2012

During the course of this year's Triple Crown trail, we have seen a number of promising horses stamp themselves as serious contenders for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), including Alpha, I'll Have Another, Out of Bounds, El Padrino, and Castaway. But those prep races, as exciting and interesting as they were, won't hold a candle to the excitement that will be generated when Derby favorite Union Rags takes on Algorithms and Discreet Dancer and the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) in what should prove to be the biggest and most influential prep race so far.

KEELERMAN'S KENTUCKY DERBY TOP TWENTY - February 25th, 2012

1. Creative Cause (Giant's Causeway - Dream of Summer, by Siberian Summer) Trained by Mike Harrington
I thought that his third-place finish in the San Vicente Stakes (gr. II) was actually a very good effort, and exactly what it needed to be. In a race really too short for him, Creative Cause settled off the pace, put in a good stretch run to be beaten just a length, and closed his final eighth of a mile in about :11 4/5. This should sharpen him up considerably for his next race, which could come in either the San Felipe Stakes (gr. II) or the Rebel Stakes (gr. II).

2. Union Rags (Dixie Union - Tempo, by Gone West) Trained by Michael Matz
He's drawn gate seven in the Fountain of Youth (gr. II), where we should get an excellent idea of just how good he is. To be perfectly honest, as good a colt as I think Union Rags is, I expect him to lose the Fountain of Youth. He's not going to be fully cranked for the race, and he's facing a pair of promising runners from the barn of Todd Pletcher. So if he does overcome these obstacles and wins anyway, I'll be moving him to the top of my list and declaring him one of the most promising Kentucky Derby contenders in recent years.

Fountain of Youth Stakes Entries and Post Positions

Here are the entries and post positions for the $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II), to be run on Sunday at Gulfstream Park. The 1 1/16th miles event is a major prep race for the $2,000,000 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and has drawn a highly promising field of eight, led by the early Derby favorite Union Rags.

1. Neck 'n Neck
2. Algorithms
3. Fort Loudon
4. Casual Trick
5. Discreet Dancer
6. News Pending
7. Union Rags
8. Csaba

TRIPLE CROWN COUNTDOWN -- January 10th, 2012

With two more major prep races in the history books, the Triple Crown trail already looks quite a bit different than it did last week. Handsome Mike and Shkspeare Shaliyah, two well-regarded colts heading into last Saturday's races, probably wrote themselves out of the Triple Crown story with their poor efforts, and Hierro certainly didn't do himself any favors with his last-place effort in the Sham.

DISCREET DANCER WINS A GULFSTREAM ALLOWANCE RACE!

It's possible that trainer Todd Pletcher's strongest contender for the 2012 Kentucky Derby is not the proven stakes winner Gemologist. It is fairly possible that the best three-year-old in his barn is the immensely talented Discreet Dancer, who brought his record to 2-for-2 this afternoon with a dominating victory in a one-mile allowance optional claiming event at Gulfstream Park.

TRIPLE CROWN COUNTDOWN - January 6th, 2012

Welcome to the 2012 edition of Triple Crown Countdown! It's hard to believe that another year of racing has concluded and it's alreaedy time to starting looking forward to the 2012 Triple Crown.

A TWO-YEAR-OLD TO WATCH: Discreet Dancer

Todd Pletcher unleashed one of his most promising juveniles of the year in Discreet Dancer in this afternoon's third race at Gulfstream Park, as the two-year-old son of Discreet Cat blew away his opponents in a 5-1/2 furlong maiden special weight while breaking the track record.

Sent off as the 3-5 favorite under Javier Castellano, Discreet Dancer tracked the early pace set by Someday Came beforing blowing past him rounding the far turn. After running a half-mile in a quick :44.99, he coasted home an easy winner by 9 3/4 lengths in 1:02.34, eclipsing the previous track record of 1:03 flat set by Paizano on January 23rd, 2010.

It will be interesting to see where Discreet Dancer turns up next. Races such as the Hutcheson Stakes (gr. II) later in the meet look like intriguing next-steps, and then a step up in distance in the Florida Derby (gr. I) could potentially set him up for a run at the Kentucky Derby.

-Keelerman