Kentucky Derby favorite Forte is knocking on the door of the world’s Top Ten after posting an auspicious display on his three-year-old debut at Gulfstream Park on Saturday [March 4] in the G2 Fountain of Youth.
America’s champion two-year-old of 2022 continued where he left off last season with an impressive 4½-length victory under Irad Ortiz and will now head towards the Florida Derby on April 1.
The Todd Pletcher-trained son of Violence has now won his last four starts, three of them in G1 company as a two-year-old: the Hopeful Stakes, Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Saturday’s victory earned his a 129-point boost on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings, where Forte now stands at #12 (from #34) – well ahead of any of his contemporaries in the Classic generation.
Sent off 1-2 favorite for the $400,000 Fountain of Youth, Forte easily dismissed what had looked on paper a decent group of G2 rivals.
“Honestly, I can’t say I was surprised,” Pletcher said. “I felt really, really good about the way this horse was coming into the race.
“We kind of carefully laid it out and put him in a program that would put him in the condition to be ready to run and still having room for improvement and room to continue to develop,” Pletcher added. “I think we were able to accomplish that – it looks like there is a lot of upside.
In a tight finish for the storied Santa Anita Handicap, Stilleto Boy (+229pt, #83 from #380) scored by a neck over fast-finishing Proxy and Defunded.
Trainer Ed Moger was enjoying the biggest success of a long career, while the win was hugely significant for jockey Kent Desormeaux, who had won the race twice in his pomp (Best Pal 1992, Milwaukee Brew 2002) before his career was derailed by off-track issues including problems with alcohol.
“For me, after my life of off-the-race-track debacles, it shows that I’ve come full circle and we can put that to bed and I can continue with my career,” Desormeaux said. “It’s going to be up to me to stay clean.”
Elsewhere, New Zealand’s star three-year-old filly Legarto (+132pt, #49 from #140) overcame a nightmare run to win the G1 Australian Guineas with a brilliant late burst under jockey Mick Dee at Flemington.
“I thought I was behind a horse that would take me through and keep me out of trouble, but I ended up left in a pocket there for quite some time,” Dee said.
“To Legarto’s credit, wow – she’s got a very, very good turn of foot. To get out when she did and finish over the top of them was an amazing effort.
“She’s still on the way up, that’s for sure. She’s only lightly raced and should arguably be unbeaten. I think she can come back in the spring and could be anything.”
Legarto is trained by Matamata-based Ken & Bev Kelso, who have only six horses in work. She has won six of her seven career starts.
The two G1s on Meydan’s Super Saturday card did not look the toughest ever seen for the status. Both ended in repeat victories, as Alfareeq (+182pt, #151 from #490) completed back-to-back wins in the Jebel Hatta and eight-year-old Salute The Soldier (+364pt, #93 from #906) regained the crown he had won in 2021 in the final leg of the Al Maktoum Challenge.
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