Hallandale Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Itsaknockout, the 5-1 third pick,
was awarded victory over disqualified 4-5 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 two lengths ahead of Itsaknockout with
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.
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.
Itsaknockout returned $12.80, $5.00 and $4.00. Upstart paid $2.60 and $2.10,
and Frammento paid $12.80 to show.
