4 takeaways from the Fountain of Youth

Saturday’s Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park produced a surprising mix of results. Here are four key takeaways from the 1 1/16-mile Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race.

1. Ete Indien flattered Tiz the Law

Ete Indien was tons the best in the Fountain of Youth. With an alert break from the far outside post, the Patrick Biancone-trained colt sprinted straight to the lead on the first turn, carved out solid fractions of :23.14, :46.72, and 1:11.30, and widened down the lane to dominate by 8 1/2 lengths in 1:43.02.

It was a performance reminiscent of Ete Indien’s runner-up effort in the Holy Bull (G3) last month, when the son of Summer Front set similar fractions and pulled 11 1/2 lengths clear of the third-place finisher.

Yet in the Holy Bull, Ete Indien was beaten handily by early Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law.

2. Candy Tycoon is getting good

Candy Tycoon may have required five starts to break his maiden, but trainer Todd Pletcher has this son of Twirling Candy heading in the right direction. A gate-to-wire winner running 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream on Jan. 25, Candy Tycoon was forced to change tactics in the Fountain of Youth, after a slow start left him buried in eighth place for the opening half-mile.

Despite those obstacles, Candy Tycoon threaded his way through traffic on the far turn and finished resolutely to secure second place in a four-way photo finish. This is an effort he can build on.

3. Watch out for Country Grammar down the road

Like Candy Tycoon, Country Grammar suffered a poor start in the Fountain of Youth. He broke slowly and got squeezed back to last in the run to the first turn. He was still far behind at the top of the stretch, but in the final furlong, he found another gear and came flying fast to finish fifth, beaten just half-length for second place.

Trained by Chad Brown, Country Grammar broke his maiden running 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct, and as a son of Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tonalist, longer distances should be right up his alley. Sold for $450,000 as a 2-year-old in training, Country Grammar doesn’t have much tactical speed, but with his staying power, he could emulate his sire and develop into a live candidate for the Belmont.

4. Dennis’ Moment deserves another chance

The winner of the 2019 Iroquois (G3), Dennis’ Moment was favored at 13-10 in the Fountain of Youth, but retreated steadily to finish last. It’s hard to take this performance at face value, since Dennis’ Moment never challenged at any point, yet it’s unclear what went wrong. Trainer Dale Romans reported the colt came back fine from his disappointing run.

The wise move might be to draw a line through Dennis’ Moment’s poor showing and expect a better effort next time. Remember when Romans’ Grade 1-winning juvenile Brody’s Cause finished a lackluster seventh in the 2016 Tampa Bay Derby (G2), his sophomore debut? Romans turned the colt around in time for the Blue Grass (G1), which Brody’s Cause won convincingly.