Fountain Of Youth Stakes

Race Name	Grade	Track	?
Fountain of Youth Stakes	2	Gulfstream Park

Fountain of Youth Stakes

The Fountain of Youth Stakes is run at the beginning of March each year at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida, and is considered an important U.S. prep race for the prestigious Kentucky Derby. The Fountain of Youth Stakes is a Gr 2 event contended over 1 1/8 miles on dirt for three-year-old thoroughbreds.

It is also the last stakes prep race before the Florida Derby, which is held at the end of March or beginning of April also at Gulfstream Park. Inaugurated in 1945, the Fountain of Youth Stakes was run at a multitude of distances until it was set at 1 1/16 miles in 1953. However, since 2005 it has been run at 1 1/8 miles.

With its generous purse (currently $350,000), the Fountain of Youth Stakes has always attracted top Florida 3-year-olds which is probably why so many of its winners have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby. These include Tim Tam in 1958, Kauai King in 1966, Spectacular Bid in 1979 and Thunder Gulch in 1995.

Proud Truth, winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes in 1985, went on to win the Florida Derby, the Peter Pan Stakes, the Discovery Handicap and the Breeders' Cup Classic that same year, while Bet Twice, who won the Fountain Youth Stakes in 1987, went on to win the auspicious Belmont Stakes later that same year.

The fastest runners in the Fountain of Youth are First Samurai who set a record time over 1 1/8 miles of 1:49.00 in 2006 and Sensitive Prince who set a record time over 1 1/16 miles of 1.41.00 in 1978. Since 1987, Jerry D. Bailey is the only jockey with 3 Fountain of Youth? wins to his name - in 1998, 2004 and 2005.

Fountain of Youth Stakes - Past Winners

2004 Read the Footnotes
2005 High Fly
2006 First Samurai
2007 Scat Daddy
2008 Cool Coal Man

Fountain of Youth Stakes - Betting

Bookmaker.com Review	5Dimes.com Review