With Jose Lezcano aboard, the Ben Colebrook-trained colt found himself in 11th place a quarter of the way through the mile race, but he and Lezcano patiently made their way through the field and found daylight heading into the stretch. He ended up winning by 7 1\/2 lengths.<\/p>\n
Colebrook said he felt the 15-horse field worked in his horse\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n
\nI thought it was a wide-open race,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was definitely tough, but I thought a big field would help him to be honest. He\u2019s so laid back and he\u2019ll do whatever a rider asks him. He\u2019ll fit through gaps and find holes. I kind of thought that would be a good thing, especially with all the pace. I would have rather had that than some monster in a short field.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Meanwhile, across the country, Yakteen scored a victory with Practical Move winning the San Felipe Stakes.<\/p>\n
In his first race since winning the Los Alamitos Futurity in December, Practical Move rallied from being in the middle of the pack on the backstretch to earn his second straight graded stakes win. Jockey Ramon Vazquez kept the colt on the inside, and they were able to make their move coming out of the final turn to win by 2 1\/2 lengths.<\/p>\n
Unlike most of Yakteen\u2019s Derby contenders, this one didn’t come as a transfer from Baffert\u2019s stable.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a phenomenally gifted horse,\u201d Yakteen said. \u201cI am amazed at how strong he is and how he has matured from a two-year-old to a three-year-old. Everything has fallen into place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trainer added after the race he expects Practical Move to have another start before heading to Louisville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Forte lived up to his name Saturday, and now, the 2-year-old champion has risen to become the favorite for this year\u2019s Kentucky Derby. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt scored an impressive 4 1\/2-length victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park near Miami. The 1-2 betting favorite stayed behind the leaders for most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":262689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,1074],"tags":[84771,85352,82078,85355,85354,85356,85353],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Road to the Kentucky Derby: Forte Odds Drop After Winning Prep<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n