Itsaknockout awarded Fountain of Youth win over Upstart

Hallandale Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Itsaknockout, the 5-1 third pick, was awarded victory over disqualified 9-10 favorite Upstart of Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth serves as the last local prep event for Gulfstream’s Florida Derby on March 28.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Luis Saez, Itsaknockout was racing near the lead through the early going of the race with Upstart to his outside as the eight-horse field of 3-year-olds went up the backstretch.

Upstart moved three wide around the final turn to take the lead coming into the stretch. The favorite bumped Itsaknockout before going clear. Upstart, ridden by Jose Ortiz, finished 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Itsaknockout with 63-1 longshot Frammento closing sharply for third.

An inquiry and objection were lodged against Upstart and the track stewards reversed the order of the top two finishers.

“I feel bad for the connections of the other horse. He crossed the finish line first, but definitely we got impeded a bit and Luis (Saez) had to stop riding for a couple strides,” Pletcher said.

Completing the order of finish were Frosted, Gorgeous Bird, Bluegrass Singer, Juan and Bina and Danny Boy.

“The horse on the inside came out on me and I bumped (Itsaknockout) after that. I bumped him just a little, but I don’t think enough to take me down,” Upstart’s jockey Jose Ortiz said.

The time for the Fountain of Youth was 1:46.28 on a fast track.

Owned by Starlight Racing, Itsaknockout won his first stakes race after winning his initial two starts in December and January. The colt picked up $240,000 to bring his bankroll to $286,800.

Winning the Fountain of Youth gave Itsaknockout his first 50 points toward a start in the Kentucky Derby on May 2.

“The thing I’m most proud of is for this horse to run this well in his third lifetime start,” Pletcher noted, “first time around two turns and first time in a stake. It was a very, very good effort. He was in between horses in a situation he hasn’t been in before, so it was a big effort.”

Itsaknockout returned $12.80, $5.00 and $4.00. Upstart paid $2.60 and $2.10, and Frammento paid $12.80 to show.

Categorized in: Horses