Ete Indien Turns in Final Work for Fountain of Youth
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Photo: Dana Wimpfheimer
Ete Indien breezes at Palm Meadows Training Center in preparation for the Fountain of Youth Stakes
Stablemates Ete Indien and Sole Volante breezed Feb. 26 at Palm Meadows Training Center and remain on course for their next scheduled starts in prep races for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), trainer Patrick Biancone said.
Ete Indien turned in a bullet :48 half-mile, the quickest of 13 on a fast dirt track, in preparation for the Feb. 29 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park. The Summer Front colt was second to Tiz the Law last out in the Feb. 1 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) after leading through fractions of :23.31, :46.60, and 1:10.96.
"(Ete Indien) just got a nice blowout going half a mile," Biancone said Wednesday. "The other one, he worked seven-eighths on the turf, galloped out a mile, worked very good. I was very happy with both moves."
Sole Volante had his first breeze since rallying to a 2 1/2-length win in the Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs. The Karakontie gelding went seven furlongs in 1:23 on a firm Palm Meadows turf course. His next start will be the March 7 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2).
Florent Geroux is scheduled to ride both sophomores in their next starts. Regular rider Luca Panici broke his collarbone Feb. 21 from a fall in Gulfstream's 10th race and is expected to be sidelined for about a month.
Both the Fountain of Youth and the Tampa Bay Derby offer Road to the Kentucky Derby points on a 50-20-10-5 scale.