Promises Fulfilled Delivers Top Performance in Fountain of Youth Upset

In winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 3 at Gulfstream Park, Promises Fulfilled not only upset champion Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Good Magic’s three-year-old debut but also delivered one of the top performances by any Kentucky Derby hopeful to date.

Promises Fulfilled earned a 104 Brisnet.com Speed Rating for his gate-to-wire victory under Irad Ortiz Jr., but even more impressive is that the Shackleford colt is the only three-year-old to earn at least a 90 E1 pace rating, at least a 100 E2 pace rating, at least a 100 Late pace rating, and at least a 100 Speed Rating.

I.e., Promises Fulfilled was fast from the start of the race and got faster! In route races such as the Fountain of Youth, E1 measures a horse’s speed from the start through the first half-mile; E2 measures from the start through 6 furlongs; LP measures the end of the race; Speed is based on the whole race. For more information on Brisnet past performances, CLICK HERE.

“Trainer [Dale Romans] told me to ‘go to the lead and hold on,'” Ortiz said. “When I asked [Promises Fulfilled to run], he just took off again. He was impressive. He ran the whole race. He broke great and was ready.”

The win earned Promises Fulfilled 50 Kentucky Derby points, launching him to second on the leaderboard with 52 points, which guarantees him a starting spot. Risen Star runner-up Snapper Sinclair is 5th with 22 points and Fountain of Youth runner-up Strike Power is 7th with 20 points, which makes projecting the Kentucky Derby pace scenario very interesting as four of the top 7 Derby hopefuls all like racing on or near the lead.

The last gate-to-wire winner of the Kentucky Derby was War Emblem in 2002.

Good Magic earned a 98 Speed Rating for his third-place finish in the Fountain of Youth behind the aforementioned Promises Fulfilled and Strike Power. The number represents a 7-point regression from the 105 he earned when winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Speaking of the Juvenile, third-place finished Bolt d’Oro returns in the San Felipe at Santa Anita Park—one of three 85-point races on Saturday, March 10. Bolt d’Oro is the only other horse of his generation to eclipse the 90 E1, 100 E2, 100 LP, 100 Speed marks, but he accomplished it as a two-year-old when winning the FrontRunner Stakes.

Bolt d’Oro closed as the 7-1 favorite in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager in November with Good Magic the 11-1 second choice. For Pool 2, however, Good Magic was favored by $115 as both closed at 8-1. Pool 3 is this weekend and will be the first time any of Bravazo, Snapper Sinclair, or Promises Fulfilled will be listed as an individual choice (Strike Power was 40-1 in pool 2).