Upstart Continues Rise in Fountain of Youth

Upstart wins the Funny Cide Stakes for New York-breds at Saratoga in August. (Photos by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
Veteran trainer Rick Violette works with a considerable number of New York-breds, and he knows the quality needed to be successful within those ranks. From that perspective, he liked Upstart as soon as the youngster entered his barn last season.
Upstart justified his confidence by sweeping his first two starts, including a New York-bred stakes contest, at Saratoga Race Course. That led Violette to believe there might be more ability than he initially perceived and he asked for much more by running him in the Champagne Stakes (G1), where he placed second to Daredevil at Belmont Park. Upstart continued to thrive and so it was on to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, where the 2-year-old overcame a far outside post and a difficult trip to run third at Santa Anita Park.
It was a campaign to savor for Violette and his staff. “He showed he was high quality before he ran his first start at Saratoga,” the trainer said as he stood outside Barn 20 during an unusually chilly morning at Palm Meadows Training Center. “We didn’t think he’d be this good.”
Upstart, a ridgling, continued to exceed expectations when he made his 3-year-old debut in the Holy Bull Stakes (G2) on Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. Violette was looking for a solid performance. What he got was sensational.
The youngster was as professional as he could be as he stalked the pace before launching a four-wide bid to grab the lead turning for home and kicking off to a five-and-a-half length victory. He received a 106 Beyer figure for his overpowering effort, the highest by any 3-year-old to date.
UPSTART WINS THE HOLY BULL

“He certainly re-established his quality in the Holy Bull,” Violette said. “He ran fast, beat some nice horses.”
Upstart delivered a sizzling workout before the Holy Bull, but was asked for less this time. He drilled for the Fountain of Youth by covering five furlongs in 1:00 3/5 seconds for exercise rider Vicki King last Saturday.
That ties into the long view that Violette is taking. “While everyone is pointing for the Derby, it’s not the only race and it’s not the last race,” he said. “It’s a year-long campaign and you have to keep that in mind. Everybody wants to win the Derby, but there is plenty of racing to be done after the Derby.”
Violette took fifth in last year’s Run for the Roses with Samraat, a New York-bred. He cautions anyone who thinks a New York-bred such as Upstart cannot get the job done on the grandest stage of all, on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.
“This is not your daddy’s New York-bred,” he said. “Mares go out of state and come back in foal. Pedigree and sire lines have certainly improved. I don’t think there is a ceiling any more for New York-breds. They are going all over the country and running in these races and being very effective.”
The oddsmaker at Gulfstream Park established Upstart as an 8-5 favorite to take another step on the Road to the Kentucky Derby by defeating a field of eight in the Fountain of Youth. He will again be tested by Frosted, the runner-up in the Holy Bull. Bluegrass Singer, the pace-setter in that race who weakened to be third, also returns. Itsaknockout, a winner of his first two starts at Gulfstream, is set to test stakes company and the two-turn distance of a mile and a sixteenth for the first time for trainer Todd Pletcher.
As stiff as the competition will be, as treacherous as the Road to the Derby can be, Upstart has filled his trainer with the utmost confidence. “I don’t think we’d trade places with anybody, let’s put it that way,” he said.

$400,000 Besilu Stables Fountain of Youth S.Gulfstream Park, Saturday, Race 11, 5:30 p.m. ET1 1/16 miles, dirt, 3-year-olds

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

Morning Line

1

Juan and Bina

Javier Castellano

Gustavo Delgado

Grupo 7C Racing Stable

20-1

2

Bluegrass Singer

Paco Lopez

Marcus J. Vitali

Crossed Sabres Farm

8-1

3

Frammento

John R. Velazquez

Nick Zito

Mossarosa

30-1

4

Gorgeous Bird

Joel Rosario

Ian Wilkes

Marylou Whitney Stables

6-1

5

Itsaknockout

Luis Saez

Todd Pletcher

Starlight Racing

4-1

6 

Frosted

Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Kiaran McLaughlin

Godolphin Racing

5-2

7 

Upstart

Jose L. Ortiz

Rick Violette

Ralph M. Evans

8-5

8

Danny Boy

Corey J. Lanerie

Dale L. Romans

Donegal Racing

15-1