This Saturday afternoon at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, FL the $400,000 2011 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes for 3-year-olds was held.
Soldat (French for Soldier) started the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 stake from pole position No. 1, along with Jockey Alan Garcia. At the start it took off from its rail post position and never looked back.
Soldat held off a challenge from To Honor and Serve around the far turn then pulled away to beat Gourmet Dinner by two lengths.
To Honor and Serve finished in third place 4 3/4 lengths back.
The victory for Soldat came in 1:50.23 on a dirt track listed as fast.
Soldat the 3-year-old son of War Front and trained by Kiaran McLaughlin was coming in to this race with a phenomenal 10 3/4 length victory this past January at Gulfstream Park on a sloppy track.
Soldat had previously won the With Anticipation Stakes (Grade 3) on grass at Saratoga Race Course and had finished second last year on grass at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (Grade 2) and at the Pilgrim Stakes (Grade 3).
With this impressive victory on dry dirt Soldat wins $240,000 and increases its graded stakes earnings to $510,000.
"It's on to the Florida Derby now," mentioned trainer Kiaran McLaughlin after the race.
The $1 million Florida Derby is scheduled at Gulfstream Park April 3rd.
If all continues well for Soldat and company they should grab a spot in Louisville, May 7th in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
Atlanta Silverbacks Austin Aztex California Victory Carolina RailHawks
No comments:
Post a Comment