Fountain Of Ute

One of the highlight races this weekend in Florida is the Fountain Of Ute (G2), which will be held over a mile and one-eighth on the dirt. The race is open to three-year-olds only and sure to attract some young horses whose owners and trainers have high aspirations for their future. The race will be offering a total of $375,000 in total purse money and looks like it will be run over a fast dirt track this year. Sure to attract a full field of fourteen horses, let’s take a look through the contenders. 

1. Starwhirl – tisbitchy – K. Braun – 6/1 

Coming into this race off of three consecutive wins, the three-year-old son of Candy Ride will be making his graded stakes debut with his start this weekend. The most recent start for the brown colt came during a listed stakes race over eight and a half furlongs in New Jersey in December of last year. At the break the colt was well off the pace and trailing most of the field in tenth. He would begin to make a move midway through the race once asked and got up to cross the wire in front by two and a quarter lengths with a speed figure of one hundred four, which is a lifetime best for the colt. Prior to this the colt would win two other consecutive races at the allowance level and maiden special weight conditions respectively. With six career starts, the son of Candy Ride with the dam who only made five career starts with one win and a top speed figure of eighty-seven, has never finished worse than fourth. 

2. Love On – beerkeg8 – T. O’Conner – 9/1 

Returning for a second try against graded company, the three-year-old light grey gelding is by Tapit and has placed on the board in six of his eight career starts. The most recent start for the gelding was last month during a listed stakes race over nine furlongs in Minnesota. The colt was sent out straight to the lead out of the gate and maintained control of the pace for most of the race, right up until the final furlongs when he was overtaken and pushed back to second at the wire. He set a lifetime best speed figure for the race of ninety-eight. His lone graded start came in September of last year during the End Of The Line Futurity (G1) at a mile and one-sixteenth. The colt would finish tenth in his graded stakes debut. His most recent win was in his prior start, this coming against allowance company over a mile in Kentucky. He took the field from gate to wire in this race, winning by a length. 

3. Authentic Crown – miserman – H. McCoy – 13/1 

Coming into this race for his fourth consecutive group start, the son of Authentic most recently started last month in The Legoland (G3) over a mile in Louisiana. The bay colt was held off the pace at the start in eighth and wavered back and forth between gaining and losing ground before making his move in the final furlongs and crossing the wire in sixth, setting a speed figure of ninety-nine, which was a lifetime best for the colt.  In November of last year, the colt would be a contender in the Breeders’ Bowl Juvenile Dirt Sprint (G1) at six furlongs, though he would cross the wire in fourteenth. His most recent win was in early June of last year during a listed stakes race over six and a half furlongs in Kentucky. He would be forwardly placed in this race, fourth out of the gate, and made an earlier move towards the middle of the race before going on to win the race by three-quarters of a length. 

4. Sledgehammer Smash – givengremlins – V. Gardner – 9/1 

Like most of the field set for the weekend, the three-year-old chestnut colt is returning to graded company after a brief step down in class at the end of last year. He will be making his seventh career start with his start this weekend. The most recent race for the colt came last month during a listed stakes race over a mile in Massachusetts. Sent out towards the middle of the pack out of the gate, the colt started to fall back in position in the middle of the race, but then regained form when asked to challenge. He would go on to cross the wire in fourth while setting a speed figure of ninety-two. His lone graded stakes start came in December of last year during the Pleasure Stakes (G3) at a mile and one-sixteenth over a track rated as good in Idaho. Again, the colt would be placed towards the middle of the pack out of the gate, start his move midway through the race, and finish fourth in his graded start. His most recent win came in the previous start during a listed stakes race, also over the same distance and on a sloppy dirt track. He would win this race by three-quarters of a length this past October. 

5. BP Bond Quick (CAN) – ginnlemonade – R. Brown – 13/1 

One of the more experienced horses in the field, this gelding has nine lifetime starts, including four at the graded level. The bay gelding is by Bond Street and out of a dam who won at the claiming level but has produced offspring surpassing her ability and running mostly in allowance races. The gelding here is the first of the dam to be graded placed. His most recent race was last month in Louisiana during The Legoland (G3) at a mile. The gelding came out of the gate and settled into seventh towards the middle of the pack but never seemed to find his stride in the race, crossing the wire in seventh where he started while setting a speed figure of ninety-eight, which was a lifetime best for the gelding. He would earn his graded placement in his graded debut in the KeggerDay Juvenile Mile (G2) with a third-place finish. His most recent win came in June of last year during an allowance race in Ontario, Canada over six furlongs. Forwardly placed in third out of the gate, he would challenge late and win the race by a head. He is the only horse in the field not foaled in Kentucky. 

6. Cosmic Flight – bigblueracing – R. Zamora – 8/1 

Off the board only once in his six lifetime starts, the son of Flightline will be making his graded stakes debut with this race. The bay colt most recently started last month during an allowance race over nine furlongs in Kentucky. He took the field from gate to wire in this race, winning by an impressive margin going away by six and a half lengths while setting a speed figure of one hundred three. In November of last year he started against listed company over eight and a half furlongs where he would cross the wire in eighth after fading in the final furlongs. 

7. Isaac Gibson – epicenter –A. Darling – 13/1 

Winning three out of his five career starts, the three-year-old bay gelding is by Epicenter. He is coming off of a win before coming into this race. This winning start came in the form of an allowance caliber race last month over nine furlongs on a track rated as good in Kentucky. He started out this race just off the pace in second out of the gate and took control of the pace midway through the race. He would go on to win by a daylight margin of eight lengths while setting a speed figure of ninety-eight, which was a lifetime best speed figure. His only graded start to date was in November of last year during the Club Stakes (G2) at a mile and one-sixteenths in Kentucky. Off the pace at the start in ninth, he would fade back as the field entered to stretch to cross the wire in fourteenth. 

8. Nhill Neante – cuprunners – A. Scott – 8/1 

Making the second graded start of his career, the light grey son of popular sire Tapit will be making his seventh career start here in the Sunshine State. His most recent race was in December of last year across the country in California during the Movieland Futurity (G1) at a mile and one-sixteenth. Held off the pace in ninth at the break, the then two-year-old colt started to make his move midway through the race and went on to cross the wire second in his graded stakes debut while setting a speed figure of one hundred two, which was a lifetime best for the colt. His most recent win came in his prior start, this in a listed stakes race over a mile in Indiana. Off the pace again at the start, this time in sixth out of the gate, the colt would put in a late run to win by a length.  

9. Now Riding Around – harrylanst – O. Brooks – 12/1 

Never having finished worse than second in any of his four career starts, the son of Candy Ride is making his graded stakes deubt this weekend. The brown colt most recently started in a listed stakes over eight and a half furlongs in December of last year in Delaware. He was well off the pace, out last out of the gate at the start of the race. The colt hung bag in this position right up until the final furlongs when he was asked to make a big move and go around horses to the outside. He would run out of ground at the end, though cross the wire in second and set a lifetime best speed figure of ninety-seven. His most recent win came in his prior start which was against allowance company over the same distance here in Florida. He was held off the pace at nearly the back of the field in seventh and made an earlier move at the midway point of the race. He would win the contest by four and a half lengths. 

10. Call To Chill – eyesoftheworld – C. Capper – 9/1 

With eight career starts, this three-year-old by Volatile will be making his graded stakes debut with the race this weekend. His most recent start was in Idaho during a listed stakes race over eight and a half furlongs. The light grey colt was forwardly placed out of the gate in third, stalking just behind the front runners early out of the gate. He was urged to make a move towards the middle of the of the race and would eventually cross the wire in second, only a half-length of the pace of the winner, and setting a speed figure of ninety-nine, which is a lifetime best speed figure for the colt. His prior start would be his most recent win which came in an allowance race over a mile in Louisiana in December of last year. He was further off the pace at the start of this race in sixth and began his forward motion at a similar point in the race before going on to win by three lengths. 

11. Bound To Blame Me – borrowed9 – D. Zordich – 13/1 

Sired by Blame, the three-year-old bay colt is returning to graded company and will be making his seventh career start this weekend. His most recent start came last year in early December during a listed stakes race over eight and a half furlongs in Ohio. Coming out of the gate positioned well off the pace in tenth, the colt was urged to make his move midway through the race, eventually taking control of the pace at the last second to win the race by a head bob at the wire, setting a speed figure of ninety-nine, which is a lifetime best speed figure for the colt. His only graded start leading up to this race came in the End Of The Line Futurity (G1) over the same distance in Kentucky last September. Running in a similar off the pace style, the colt would close late but come up short with a fifth-place finish. 

12. Shattered Illlusion – justasr – R. Stzelczyk – 21/1 

A late entry to the field and going off as the morning line longshot in gate twelve, this brown colt is by the Triple Crown winning sire Justify. The three-year-old colt will be making his graded stakes debut this weekend and has finished off the board just once in his career over the course of six starts. This lone off the board finish came during a test on the turf. His most recent win was in an allowance caliber race over nine furlongs last month in Kentucky over a track listed as good at post time. The colt took the field from gate to wire in the race, winning the race over four and a quarter lengths with a lifetime best speed figure of ninety-four. 

13. No Stress – asrtapit4 – G. Gogan – 12/1 

Lightly raced with only four career starts, the light grey colt is making his third graded start and seeking out his first graded win after having come close to a win in his most recent attempt. His most recent start came in New York over a mile during The Nashua Special (G3). The son of Tapit was sent out towards the front in the race to lurk back in fourth at the start before being asked to challenge late in the final furlongs. The colt would cross the wire in second, setting a lifetime best speed figure of ninety-five. His most recent win came in his debut race which was against allowance company at six and a half furlongs on a sloppy track. The colt took the field from gate to wire in the slop to win by three-quarters of a length. 

14. To Shape A Dragon – dragonrider3 – O. A. Haack – 7/1 

Returning to graded company after a step back down in class, the brown colt will be making his ninth career start. His most recent start was last month during a listed stakes race over nine and a half furlongs in Colorado. The colt was placed off the pace in eighth out of the gate. Midway through the race he would be asked to make his move and would go on to win the listed contest by a daylight margin of five and a quarter length while setting a speed figure of one hundred four. The colt has made one prior graded start, this coming in November of last year during The Ransom (G2) at a mile and one-eighth in which he would cross the wire in second after being well off the pace early. 

Flrancho’s Picks: 

Win: Nhill Neante 

Place: To Shape A Dragon 

Show: Starwhirl