With horses on two fronts and using different trainers, Arkansas horseman Frank Fletcher received good news from Florida one week after a mild setback in Louisiana.
Rocket Can, Gulfstream Park's last-out Grade 3 Holy Bull winner, ran second to champion juvenile Forte in Saturday's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at the same track. Rocket Can's 20 points doubled his Kentucky Derby qualifying total to 40, good for sixth place. Hall of Famer Bill Mott trains the Into Mischief colt foaled by the Tapit mare Tension.
Victory Formation, sired by 2017 Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit, ran third in the Grade 2 Risen Star Feb. 25 at Fair Grounds off a Jan. 1 victory in Oaklawn's Smarty Jones. Brad Cox trains Victory Formation (10 points) along with Risen Star winner Angel of Empire, second in the Smarty Jones, and other Derby contenders.
Victory Formation, No. 26 in the standings, needs a point infusion to ensure a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate May 6 at Churchill Downs. He is one of several Cox-trained prospects for the Grade 1 $1.25 million Arkansas Derby April 1, awarding points to the top-five Triple Crown-eligible finishers with 100 to the winner. Cox won last year's Arkansas Derby with New Orleans shipper Cyberknife and was awarded the 2021 Kentucky Derby upon disqualification of winner (and since-deceased) Medina Spirit because of a drug violation.
April 1 also is the day of the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream, worth 100 points to the winner, in which Fletcher, a central Arkansas automobile dealer, may enter Rocket Can. The top 20 eligible horses by points qualify for Derby 149 in Louisville.
Forte, sired by Violence and trained by Todd Pletcher, leads with 90 points after winning by 4 1/2 lengths in the Fountain of Youth, his seasonal debut and fourth graded triumph. His futures odds in Las Vegas plunged from 7-1 to 4-1 at Circa Sports and 7-2 at Caesar's Sportsbook after the race.
"The action on Forte was steady all year but all small until last week," said Caesar's future-book writer Paul Bach, quoted by Louisville website horseracingnation.com. "Then someone made a huge bet at 6-1."
Suspended at Churchill Downs over the 2021 Derby DQ, five-time race winner Baffert moved his Derby prospects last week, mostly to former assistant Tim Yakteen to make them eligible for May 6 in Kentucky. Arabian Knight, running in Baffert's name, won the Grade 3 Southwest Jan. 28 at Oaklawn and Reincarnate placed third for Yakteen in the Grade 2 Rebel Feb. 25.
Arabian Knight is second in both Vegas books, 5-1 at Caesars and 9-1 at Circa. Rebel winner Confidence Game, trained by Keith Desormeaux, is 26-1 at Caesars and 35-1 at Circa, higher than Southwest and Rebel runner-up Red Route One, a deep closer trained by Steve Asmussen. Rocket Can is 35-1 on one Vegas book and 40-1 on another.