2018 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Odds, Predictions

Fountain Of Youth Preview and Odds

Run at 1 1/16 miles on the Gulfstream dirt and offering a total purse of $400,000, the Fountain of Youth offers Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale.

In a field of 10 entries, Good Magic has been made the morning line favorite at odds of 7-5. He ran three times in 2017 as a juvenile, and his maiden win was a big one, as he took the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November at Del Mar with ease, hitting the wire 4 1/2 lengths in front of the field. Somewhat overlooked at the betting window, he went off at odds of 12-1 in the Juvenile, a race where he stalked the pacesetters to the 3/4 mile mark and then split horses to take over in the stretch and cruise to victory.

Prior to that, he had run a close second in the (G1) Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park, after also finishing second in his career debut. He currently sits in a tie for second place on the Kentucky Derby qualifying leaderboard, and a win or even runner-up finish on Saturday at Gulfstream should be enough for him to punch his ticket to Churchill Downs for the Derby.

Free Drop Billy Looking to Move Up

We've seen several strong favorites falter in recent Derby prep races, and if Good Magic fails to fire on Saturday, Free Drop Billy (9-2) could be there to take advantage. He won two of his first four lifetime races, including the (G1) Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland last October after running second in the (G1) Hopeful at Saratoga. He was no factor in the BC Juvenile, where he finished ninth, but showed some bounce back to start 2018 when he was clearly the best of the rest behind Audible in the (G2) Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream last month.

Coming in undefeated in two lifetime starts is Strike Power (4-1) who gained both of those wins on the Gulfstream dirt, the latest being the (G3) Swale Stakes in early February. He went wire-to-wire to earn a graded stakes title on his first try, but it's notable that after setting very quick early fractions, the last furlong of the race notably slowed and here he'll have to stretch out beyond seven furlongs for the first time.

Finishing behind him in the Swale was Gotta Go (10-1) who won the Street Sense Stakes at Churchill last October, where he got the better of Bravaso, who leads the Kentucky Derby qualifying list after taking the (G2) Risen Star Stakes two weeks ago at Fair Grounds. He's a late-runner who could very well get up in time to grab a part of the money at what should be lucrative odds.

The Fountain of Youth Stakes goes Saturday, March 3 from Gulfstream Park. It's race #14 on an excellent card at Gulfstream that includes seven other graded-stakes races including the (G2) Davona Dale, which is a qualifier for fillies for the Kentucky Oaks. Post time for the Fountain of Youth is 6:09 PM Eastern.

Entries w/ Morning Line Odds