Fountain of Youth Mohaymen's 'Toughest' Test

Already an early favorite on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) after a geared-down score in the Jan. 30 Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II), Shadwell Stable's Mohaymen will take on a field of five other sophomores looking to break out in the $400,000 Xpressbet Fountain of Youth (gr. II) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park.



With Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale available to the top four finishers, the undefeated Tapit   colt could rocket to the top of the standings with another victory at Gulfstream Saturday.



NOVAK: Mohaymen Romps in Holy Bull Stakes



But the only returning challenger from the Holy Bull is third-place finisher Fellowship, who was six lengths back in the 1 1/16-mile test in January, and the fresh faces entered appear formidable.



The most significant threat appears to be Jacks or Better Farm's undefeated homebred Awesome Banner—Jack's Or Better also owns Fellowship, and both sons of Awesome of Course are trained by Stanley Gold. Awesome Banner already has two graded wins this year at Gulfstream, in the Hutcheson (gr. III) and the Swale (gr. II), but the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth will be his first try at two turns.



LEWYN: Awesome Banner Dominates Swale



"He hasn't been asked and he's got something left. I don't see any reason he can't go further," Gold said of Awesome Banner. "It's not like we're pushing him around there and he's in a stiff drive. He's been pretty much eased up coming to the wire in both of those races. And I'm not sure he won't be more comfortable not even having to get sent to the front... You won't have to ask him going two turns. He has a pretty high cruising speed and he always seems to have another gear left."



The other undefeated colt entered is lightly raced Zulu—owned by Stonestreet Stables, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith—out of the barn of Todd Pletcher. The son of Bernardini   won his debut at Gulfstream Dec. 5, then crushed an allowance/optional claiming field by 7 1/4 lengths Jan. 15 at seven furlongs.



"We could have opted for an easier spot, but we felt like it was in his best interests to stay on a track that he's two-for-two on and find out where he fits with the big boys," Pletcher said. "We think he's a very talented colt. We anticipate he's going to improve stretching out. He'll need to against this group, but we've been pleased with what he's done so far and pleased with how he's trained since the allowance win. We'll find out a lot more Saturday."



Not to be forgotten, multiple stakes winner Awesome Speed is also entered for the Fountain of Youth riding a three-race winning streak, which includes the James F. Lewis and the Mucho Macho Man stakes.



ANGST: Awesome Speed Tough in Mucho Macho Man Stakes



For Mohaymen, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said the Fountain of Youth is the toughest field the three-time grade II winner has ever faced.



"It's a tough race but I wouldn't trade places with anybody," McLaughlin said. "It's going to be his toughest race to date. Zulu is undefeated. Awesome Banner is undefeated. Awesome Speed is a nice horse. It's going to be tough and we just hope we keep going and stay the same. We don't have to improve but it's more experience and hopefully we get lucky to win."

Stakes-placed Golden Ray, ninth last time out Feb. 15 in the Starter Stakes at Gulfstream, completes the field.