Quality Road Enters Derby Picture With Resounding Fountain of Youth Win

February 28, 2009
By Profitus Maximus

Quality Road registered a mild upset in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) as the fourth betting choice at 6-1 odds on Saturday at Gulfstream Park .

Despite being jostled a bit at the start, he registered an impressive 4 ¼ length victory over a very deep and contentious field winning in a time of 135.01.

He received a Beyer Speed Figure of 113, the best figure so far for a 3-year-old at a route distance.

Quality Road broke from post 9, just inside of This Ones For Phil, who set the pace through solid fractions of 23.83, 45.55, and 109.40, and stalked that one in second laying about a length and a half off the leader.

He began to draw even with This Ones For Phil with a quarter mile left to go and began to gain the ascendancy over that one by midstretch.Theregoesjojo made a nice rally under Kent Desormeaux from the back of the pack to run up into second, but could not get to the winner.

Hutcheson winner Capt. Candyman Can went off as the narrow post time favorite at 7/2 odds, but could get no closer than 9 ¼ lengths off Quality Road and a fourth place finish.

Notonthesamepage was expected to be more forwardly placed but instead the jockey decided to experiment and rate him off the pace but was never a factor. It was clear he was done before even 5 furlongs had been run and was not himself.

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said that Quality Road will be pointed either for the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct race track or to the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

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