Wildcat Red outduels General a Rod in Fountain of Youth

Wildcat Red (right) and General a Rod turned the Fountain of Youth into a match race (Adam Coglianese Photography)

The January 1 Gulfstream Park Derby turned out to be the key predictor for
Saturday’s Grade 2, $415,000
Fountain of
Youth Stakes, as Wildcat Red and General a Rod reprised their duel in what
developed into a virtual match race. Only this time, Honors Stable Corp.’s
Wildcat Red gained revenge in a photo-finish, and took home 50 points toward the
Kentucky Derby. Top Billing, the 2-1 favorite, launched a gallant rally from far
back to finish a clear third, but couldn’t reach the top two on a track that was
playing kindly to speed.

General a Rod, who had not raced since his New Year’s Day heroics around a
one-turn mile, ranked as the 3-1 second choice. Wildcat Red had the benefit of a
run in the interim, having romped in the February 1 Hutcheson at seven furlongs,
and left the gate as the 9-2 fourth pick here.

Both were trying two turns for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of
Youth, and they sped off right away in an early pace battle. Wildcat Red had the
inside path from post 4, while General a Rod, drawn next door in post 5, matched
strides to his outside. Vying through fractions of :23 and :46 1/5, the rivals
held a clear advantage on the rest of the field.

Wildcat Red has the “heart of a winner” (Joe Ganley/EquiSport Photos)

Although General a Rod tried one final lunge as they reached for the wire,
attempting to give jockey Javier Castellano a record-tying seventh win on the
card, Wildcat Red’s head got there first for Luis Saez. The ultra-game winner
posted a final time of 1:41 4/5 and rewarded his loyalists with an $11 win
payout.

“(At the top of the stretch), I knew I was going to win the race, because my
horse, all the time he tries so hard,” Saez said. “When we came into the
stretch, he fought, and he never let the other horse pass him. He’s a great
horse. (At the wire), I wasn’t sure, but I thought I got the win.”

Co-owner Josie Delfino was delighted.

“This feels great — it’s so emotional,” Delfino said. “We’ve been in racing for two years. We’re
what you call newcomers. We had a good friend from Venezuela introduce us to
Jose. We always wanted a horse — we rescue animals in Venezuela — but didn’t
know it would be a racehorse until after we met Jose. We didn’t think we’d get
this far so quick, but after we got Red we thought we’d go far. He has the heart
of a winner.”

“We proved that we were right — that the horse could get the distance,” Garoffalo said. “I thought (General a Rod) was the horse to beat and the race
was a copy of the last race, the Gulfstream Park Derby, but this time I got
lucky and I beat him. I was expecting him to be right next to or right behind
me.

Top Billing (pink silks on far left) faced a tall order trying to rally from last, and did well to take third (Adam Coglianese Photography)

The top two had two lengths to spare over Top Billing, who was himself 4 1/2
lengths clear of East Hall.

Top Billing’s connections noted that he did well in the circumstances.

“We just couldn’t catch them,” McGaughey said. “He made a good run, I thought at
the quarter-pole we probably had them, but we just couldn’t get to
them.”

“He broke well,” jockey Joel Rosario said, “and he’s the type of horse that takes a little time to get in the
race. It looks like the track is holding speed today, but I
think he ran well. He’s a smart horse and he finished well. They were going
pretty quick and didn’t let up. That was a good race for him, I
think.”

Fourth-place finisher East Hall reinforced the Gulfstream Park Derby-look to
the Fountain of Youth, for he had finished third to General a Rod and Wildcat
Red on January 1. Medal Count checked in fifth, followed by Commissioner, Our
Caravan, We Miss Artie, Best Plan Yet, C. Zee, Almost Famous and a tailed-off
Hesinfront. Casiguapo was scratched.

Pletcher looked for a bright spot about Commissioner.

Wildcat Red is headed for a clash with Cairo Prince in the Florida Derby, and jockey Luis Saez will have to choose between them (Lauren King/Adam Coglianese Photography)

Wildcat Red now boasts a mark of 6-4-2-0, $490,850, compiled exclusively at
Gulfstream. After breaking his maiden by eight lengths on September 14 going 6
1/2 furlongs, the D’wildcat colt beat allowance foes the following month by 1
1/2 lengths at six furlongs. He finished first by 1 1/4 lengths in the $125,000
Juvenile Sprint on November 9, but was disqualified and placed second after
bearing out on a rival in the stretch.

Making his sophomore debut on New Year’s Day, in the $100,000 Gulfstream Park
Derby, Wildcat Red dueled throughout the one-mile test but fell a head short of
General a Rod at the finish. That is the only time that he hasn’t crossed the
wire in front. Withdrawn from a projected tilt at the January 25 Holy Bull
because of a cold, Wildcat Red went to Plan B in the Hutcheson, and rolled by 4
3/4 lengths.

“The Florida Derby (March 29) will be the next step, depending on how the horse
comes back, and then we’ll see,” Garoffalo said. “If everything goes the right
way, we will go straight to Churchill Downs, hopefully.

“Saez deserves to ride
the horse again unless he changes his mind (as the regular rider of Holy Bull
hero Cairo Prince), but for the moment that’s not the
issue.

“I won a Grade 2 a couple of years ago (with Yara in the 2012 Davona Dale), but this is for
three-year-old colts
and that gets the most attention because it’s the road to the
Derby.”