Burnham Square and Zayas scoring the Holy Bull. (Lauren King)
Keep It Easy Seeking Fresh Start in G2 Fountain of Youth
Gulfstream Park News & Notes
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Undefeated in their two starts together, jockey Edgard Zayas and Whitham Thoroughbreds’ impressive Holy Bull (G3) winner Burnham Square chase a third straight victory in Saturday’s $415,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
Zayas, a formidable year-round presence in South Florida, has been aboard Burnham Square for a nine-length maiden triumph Dec. 28 as well as a 1 ¾-length score in the Holy Bull, his third straight attempt around two turns.
“It meant a lot. I think it’s the first time I really had a legit shot in that kind of race on the road to the Kentucky Derby and we made it work,” Zayas said. “The horse was great. I’m super thankful to get the opportunity to ride him and I’m really excited for what’s to come.”
Zayas has been aboard for each of Burnham Square’s two works following the Holy Bull, going four furlongs in 50.05 seconds Feb. 15 and five furlongs in 1:01.05 Feb. 23, the latter ranking second of 13 horses at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County.
“He’s been working great. He’s just getting better and better through racing,” Zayas said. “His last work was five furlongs, he worked really good and his gallop-out was amazing. The best part of his works is always his gallop-out. It looks like he has a really long stride, and he just keeps on going.”
Burnham Square drew Post 3 and is the 5-2 second choice behind 2-1 program favorite River Thames. The Liam’s Map gelding broke from outermost Post 7 in the Holy Bull.
“[I’m] just going to let him break out of there. It looks like he’s a pretty versatile horse,” Zayas said. “In his maiden [win] he was right there on the pace and then last time I think the post position didn’t help for where he was, because he’s really not the fastest out of the gate but he’s not that slow, either. I think the post position dropped him back a little bit farther than he should have been. Hopefully we’re a little bit closer this time and see what he can do. I know that he can run all day. He has a lot of stamina, so I know he’s ready to go.”
Keep It Easy Seeking Fresh Start in G2 Fountain of Youth
St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds’ Keep It Easy, who established himself as a stakes winner around one turn last year, is scheduled to seek two-turn stakes credentials in Saturday’s $415,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.
“It’s that time of year. I think everybody’s in the same boat with the stretching out and finding out who’s going to be comfortable doing it and who are the one-turn horses going forward,” West Point Thoroughbreds executive vice president Tom Bellhouse said.
The Dale Romans-trained son of Hard Spun is unraced since capturing the 6 ½-furlong Ed Brown Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs, where he settled into stride a few lengths off the pace before kicking in through the stretch to score by 5 ¼ lengths.
“He hasn’t really missed a beat since he’s been down in Florida. Dale remains extremely bullish on him,” Bellhouse said. “He didn’t get lulled into going in the [Feb. 1] Holy Bull. He said, ‘I’m just going to stick to my plan.’ ”
Keep It Easy graduated in his second career start with a sharp front-running four-length victory June 27 at Churchill Downs before stumbling badly and finishing far back in the Aug. 10 Saratoga Special (G2).
“It was a bad enough gate experience that they definitely wanted to give him time and school him,” Bellhouse said. He didn’t exactly fly out of there in his next race. He kind of was a little apprehensive but I think we’ve got that all behind us.”
Out of action for nearly four months, Keep It Easy was a tad slow leaving the starting gate in the Brown but would prove much the best while making a wide sweep to the lead and drawing off.
