By Bill Finley
2-year-old champion Good Magic (Curlin) will make his 2018 debut in Saturday's GII Fountain of Youth Stakes, but it appears it will be his last start at Gulfstream for some time to come. Normally, the Fountain of Youth is a stepping stone for the GI Florida Derby, but trainer Chad Brown said yesterday that it's unlikely his colt will return for Gulfstream's signature 3-year-old race.
“The Florida Derby is actually unlikely,” he said. “I'm focused on either the [GII] Wood Memorial or the [GII] Blue Grass. I like the timing of those races. We'll see how he runs here Saturday and then take it from there. But right now I'd say those races fit his schedule the best.”
The Florida Derby will be held March 31, four weeks after the Fountain of Youth and five weeks prior to the GI Kentucky Derby. The Florida Derby has been a popular race with many trainers because they like the five-week spacing between it and the Derby. But Brown said he'd prefer to add an extra week to Good Magic's schedule after the Fountain of Youth, which he can do by going in the Wood or Blue Grass. Those two races are on April 7.
“Either way you gain a week or lose a week no matter what you do,” he said. “For me, after his first race back I figured maybe the horse would need an extra week on that end to recover, especially if he comes out a little too sharp and runs really hard, versus needing that extra week leading up to the Derby. You could argue it either way. But right now I feel like I'd prefer the extra week from race one to race two and then go into Churchill with four weeks between races.”
One reason to choose the Florida Derby over the Wood Memorial and/or the Blue Grass is that it is a Grade I and the others are not. But with Good Magic having already won a Grade I race in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and having been named a champion, that's not a worry for Brown. He doesn't necessarily need another Grade I win at this point in the horses's career to strengthen his credentials as a potential stallion.
“That's not an issue with this particular horse,” he said. “He's already a champion and already a Grade I winner. I'm not taking anything way from the Florida Derby, but all three of these races are very prestigious. Whatever the grade is, I think they carry a lot of weight so far as the breeding markets go and history goes. Now that he's already established the main thing I have to focus on is trying to get him to Kentucky Derby the best I can.”
On Saturday, Brown will have two goals: to win the Fountain of Youth, and to make sure he's left plenty in the tank with the Kentucky Derby being what really matters.
“The goal is the Kentucky Derby and I'm really working backwards from there,” he said. “To the best of my ability, I'm trying to get the horse to run a lifetime best race on the first Saturday in May. That's what I'm trying to do. I know how far the race is and I know when the race is. So it's my job to try to get him there the best way I can to run a new top. I enter horses to win and that hasn't changed. We're not going to give him any races. But in his training I'm trying to guide him to a lifetime best on Derby Day. I think he's good enough to win the Fountain of Youth, but I haven't completely tightened the screws on this horse and I don't want him to run some extraordinary number in whatever his final prep is. But when we put this horse in the gate, we're trying to win. It's a fine line that you walk.”
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