Undefeated Trio Tops Fountain of Youth (G2) Nominations

On Time Girl, Sneaky Good Head Noms for Davona Dale (G2)
3YO Filly Event Offers in Total 105 Kentucky Oaks (G1) Qualifying Points
Among Nine Stakes, Eight Graded, Worth $2.025 Million Feb. 28
Championship Meet Resumes with 10-Race Program Thursday

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – The undefeated trio of Grade 1 winner Napoleon Solo, multiple stakes winner Solitude Dude and Jackson Hole, and Grade 2 winner Further Ado head a list of 23 3-year-olds nominated to the $425,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth is the next step on Gulfstream’s road to the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 28, following the one-mile Mucho Macho Man Jan. 3 and Holy Bull (G3) Jan. 31, also at 1 1/16 miles. It offers 105 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to the first five finishers.

Gold Square’s Napoleon Solo has yet to make his sophomore debut after winning both his starts at 2, capped by the Champagne (G1) going a one-turn mile Oct. 4 at Aqueduct. He has been breezing steadily since mid-January at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, for his season opener.

Chris Fountoukis’ Solitude Dude has won his three career starts by 21 1/4 combined lengths but has yet to race beyond the seven furlongs of his 3-year-old debut, a front-running 3 3/4-length triumph in the Jan. 31 Swale at Gulfstream. He won the six-furlong Inaugural by eight lengths in December at Tampa Bay Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Fountain of Youth four times, most recently with champion Forte in 2023. He is expected to run WinStar Farm, CHC, Inc. and First Go Racing’s Jackson Hole, who went unraced at 2 but has captured both his starts this year at Gulfstream including a 5 1/2-length wire-to-wire allowance score Jan. 17 going 1 1/16 miles. Pletcher also nominated Swale runner-up Class President.

Spendthrift Farm’s Brad Cox-trained Further Ado also has yet to run in 2025, racing four times at 2 and winning two straight by following up his 20-length maiden triumph with a 1 3/4-length victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), both going 1 1/16 miles. Cox also nominated Wathnan Racing’s Commandment, a seven-furlong maiden winner Nov. 1 who hasn’t run since a 6 3/4-length romp in the Mucho Macho Man.

Also prominent among nominees are stakes winners Bravaro, second in the Holy Bull; Diciassette, fourth last out in the Swale; and Two Out Hero, most recently third in the Summer (G1) last fall on the Woodbine turf; Champagne runner-up Talkin; Roger That Dana, second in the Mucho Macho Man; impressive Gulfstream debut winners Chief Wallabee (seven furlongs Jan. 10) and Canaletto (one mile Jan. 25); Project Ace and Global Aviator, respectively third and fifth in the Holy Bull; Rockies Balboa, a winner of two straight at Gulfstream by 10 3/4 combined lengths; and maiden The Puma, third in the Feb. 7 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs.

Godolphin homebred Sovereignty won last year’s Fountain of Youth, ran second in the Florida Derby and then won the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers (G1) and was named champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year. Hall of Famer Bill Mott was voted the Eclipse Award as champion trainer and Godolphin was named champion owner and breeder.

The Feb. 28 program features nine stakes, eight graded, worth $2.025 million in purses. Topping the undercard is the $225,000 Davona Dale (G2) presented by Inglis Digital USA for 3-year-old fillies, which offers 105 Kentucky Oaks (G1) qualifying points to the first five finishers on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis.

Nineteen sophomore fillies were nominated to the Davona Dale, Gulfstream’s third stop toward the March 28 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) following the one-mile Cash Run Jan. 1 and seven-furlong Forward Gal (G3) Jan. 31.

Albaugh Family Stables’ On Time Girl has won four of her five starts, the most recent a popular three-length decision in the Forward Gal for trainer Brad Cox while LNJ Foxwoods and NK Racing stablemate Sneaky Good, winner of the Dec. 6 Sandpiper, was third just a neck out of second. Cox also nominated Sticker Shock, a 1 1/16-mile maiden winner Nov. 29 in Kentucky, and Paradise, a one-mile maiden winner Jan. 4 at Gulfstream.

JSM Equine’s Haute Diva has raced seven times with a win and three seconds in four tries over Gulfstream’s main track, the most recent a rallying 14-1 upset of the Cash Run by a neck over Nycon, who is also nominated and similarly unraced since. Jim Gladden’s Omaha Bay won her lone start sprinting six furlongs Dec. 28 at Gulfstream.

Woodland Way’s Imperatrice graduated by 1 1/4 lengths in her second start and first at Gulfstream Dec. 13, returning with a runner-up finish in the Forward Gal for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who also nominated Calumet Farm homebred She Be Smooth. The Lexitonian filly won her lone start, a one-mile maiden special weight, Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

Other nominees include Tampa debut winners Always a Runner (one mile, 40 yards Feb. 6) and Current Yield (6 1/2 furlongs, Jan. 31); Blazing Brat, second in the Sandpiper in her fifth start and first on the dirt; and Swing Vote, who broke her maiden Jan. 24 at Gulfstream sprinting six furlongs.

The 2025-2026 Championship Meet resumes Thursday at Gulfstream Park with a 10-race program starting at 12:20 p.m. The 20-cent Rainbow 6 begins anew following Sunday’s multiple mandatory payouts of $31.679.80.