The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon set out in the 1500s in search of a mythical fountain, which was believed to be located in the southeastern part of the North American continent and gave all who drank from it eternal youth. Gulfstream Park named a race in honor of the mythical tale and now in its 90th running, the Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) has become a key stop on the road to the Kentucky Derby (G1), which will be held this year on May 7 at Churchill Downs.
Five Fountain of Youth winners have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby —Tim Tam (1958), Kauai King (1966), Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995), and Orb (2013). Five others finished second or third in the Fountain of Youth before wearing the famed garland of roses — Iron Liege (1957), Pleasant Colony (1981), Swale (1984), Unbridled (1990) and Go for Gin (1994). Also, five Kentucky Derby winners ran in the Fountain of Youth but didn’t win – Iron Liege (1957), Pleasant Colony (1981), Swale (1984), Unbridled (1990) and Go for Gin (1994).
Fifteen horses have completed the Fountain of Youth—Florida Derby double, the most recent being Forte last year.
Tim Tam is one of four horses to have completed the Fountain of Youth-Florida Derby-Kentucky Derby sweep.
Orb in 2013 is the most recent of the four to complete the Fountain of Youth-Florida Derby-Kentucky Derby hat trick. The other three are Tim Tam (1958), Spectacular Bid (1979) and Thunder Gulch (1995).
Tim Tam was campaigned by the legendary Calumet Farm
Some other famous names pulled from the winner’s list throughout its history include In Reality, Al Hattab, Shecky Greene, Darn That Alarm, Vicar, Songandaprayer, Mohaymen and Gunnevera.
The race was not run in three years – 1946, 1948 and 1952, but in 1983, 1986 and 1993 the race was split and run in two divisions. In 1947 it was run twice – early in the year for 3-year-olds and again late in the year for 2-year-olds.
The race has three records for a final time because the race has been run at three distances since its inception — 1 mile in 1:35.01 (2009, Quality Road); 1 1/16 miles in 1:41 (1978, Sensitive Prince); and 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.87 (2010, Eskendereya). In 2012, Gulfstream added a second finish line so the Fountain of Youth and other dirt races could be contested at 1 1/16 miles.
Forte is one of Todd Pletcher’s record four Fountain of Youth winners.
Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher has saddled four winners to lead all trainers — Scat Daddy (2007), Eskendereya (2010) and Itsaknockout (2012) and Forte (2023), Itsaknockout finished second before being elevated to the victory following the disqualification of the actual winner, Upstart.
In 2019 Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was aboard Code of Honor to pick up his fifth career Fountain of Youth win and take a one-race lead in number of Fountain of Youth victories over fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey. He also rode Scat Daddy (2007), Quality Road (2009), Eskendereya (2010) and Orb (2013).
Since the Fountain of Youth is a “Road to the Derby” qualifying event to make the gate for the Run for the Roses, it offers points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to the top-five finishers..
Saturday’s weather will be warm and pleasant, with partly cloudy skies and highs in the low 80s. Expect fast and firm conditions all day.
The $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth is the 14th race on the day with a post time of 6:10 p.m. ET.