Wildcat Red Beats General A Rod in FOY

On a track that was favoring speed, Wildcat Red and General A Rod went to the front out of the gate and battled on the lead for the duration in the $400,000 Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream on Saturday. At the wire, it was Wildcat Red who managed to get the bob, thus picking up 50 points toward earning a starting spot in the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May. Run at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, The Fountain of Youth is a designated race in the Derby’s challenge series.

Winner gets fourth at Gulfstream

A three-year-old Florida-bred son of D’wildcat, Wildcat Red came into the Fountain of Youth off a convincing 4 3/4 length win in the Grade III Hutcheson Stakes three weeks ago. That was his first stakes score after a pair of runner up finishes in the Gulfstream Park Derby and the Juvenile Sprint Stakes. He launched his career with a win first time out last September, and then took his second race as well at the allowance level. He now has four wins and two seconds in six lifetime starts, all at Gulfstream.

Rivals now each have a photo-finish win

Runner up General A Rod was looking for his second straight win over Wildcat Red, as he had previously taken the Gulfstream Park Derby by a head after a similar tight battle throughout that race, run at a mile.  He now has two wins and two seconds in four lifetime starts. For the FOY, Wildcat Red was fourth choice in the betting, going off at 9-2, while General A Rod was co-second choice at 3-1. The favorite at 2-1, Top Billing, wound up third after running near the back of the pack and then making a strong sweeping move coming out of the turn.