This week on HorseCenter, Brian Zipse and Matt Shifman will handicap and offer top picks from a strong Saturday afternoon card at Gulfstream Park. Leading the way will be the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Won in the past by such stalwarts as Spectacular Bid, Bet Twice, Forty Niner and Thunder Gulch, the important Kentucky Derby prep also has produced the more recent Triple Crown race winners Orb and Dornoch. This year’s edition is led by Burnham Square, River Thames and Sovereignty.

Highlighting the other seven graded stakes on the card is the return of the highly regarded Mindframe. The Belmont Stakes runner-up will make his first start since finishing second in last summer’s Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park. Encino and Steal Sunshine are among his top competitors in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2).

Before analysis of those intriguing races in South Florida, Matt and Brian take a look back at a sensational edition of the Saudi Cup (G1), as well as a popular winner of the Rebel Stakes (G2).

Brian: Matt, I can’t say enough about the performance Saturday by Forever Young. Romantic Warrior is a machine right now, and for the Japanese star to run him down in the Saudi Cup closing stretches was nothing short of special. I am already eagerly awaiting his return to America to try to avenge his only two career losses.

With all the strong older horses we have here in the U.S. this year, we could be looking at an excellent edition of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. A potential field with Thorpedo Anna, Forever Young, Sierra Leone, Fierceness, White Abarrio and Mindframe is enticing, and that is not even including any 3-year-olds who will step up this spring.

Matt: It was certainly a great edition of the rich Saudi Cup. Romantic Warrior did not miss a beat in his first start on the dirt when his jockey got him to the lead and away from the heavy dirt cloud that was produced by the kickback from the field. But the 7-year-old could not hold off the relentless stretch drive that has become the trademark of Forever Young. The performance of Forever Young prompted me to rank him as the No. 1 horse in the NTRA top Thoroughbred poll since he did race in North America twice last year.

After running first and second in the $20 million race, Forever Young and Romantic Warrior now have combined earnings of $40.5 million for their careers. With 8 victories from 10 starts, the 4-year-old Forever Young has banked $14.2 million, and Romantic Warrior has 18 wins from 24 starts with $26.3 million in earnings.

Brian: I was pleasantly surprised to see Coal Front let go at odds of nearly 12-1 in the Rebel Stakes. All this horse does is win. On Sunday, he overcame traffic and bumping to prove best in what looked like a very solid field. He is a tough-running son of a gun and now 5-for-5 on the dirt. I hope folks continue to underestimate him and veteran trainer Lonnie Briley all the way to the Kentucky Derby. 

Meanwhile, both Madaket Road, who set a fast early pace, and Sandman, who was way back early, did enough at Oaklawn to push them along in a positive direction to the first Saturday in May.

Matt: I became a fan of Coal Battle after his victory in the Springboard Mile. Even after a second Derby trail win in the Smarty Jones, he got no respect. Last week at HorseCenter, Brian pointed out that it was likely that would happen and made him his top pick. When I heard the owner of Speed King say that they were going to rate their horse and not try to win on the lead again, the 11-1 odds on Coal Battle were irresistible.

Coal Battle sat comfortably in fifth in the early going in the field of 14 and when asked to move made up ground quickly on the outside to take the lead and win impressively. Coal Battle sits on top of the Derby standings with 70 points, which means that 72-year-old Briley will have his first starter in the Kentucky Derby if all goes well over the next two months.

Brian: The Fountain of Youth is another interesting handicapping puzzle on the Kentucky Derby trail. Sovereignty certainly was an impressive juvenile. The son of Into Mischief ran well each time and got better with every race. Having said that, this will be his first start in four months. Burnham Square, on the other hand, is coming off two strong wins over the track, including the Holy Bull (G3) four weeks ago. Both should appreciate what looks to be a strong early pace.

River Thames is part of that early pace and has looked like a serious racehorse in his first two starts for trainer Todd Pletcher. The New York-bred could be any kind, but this Fountain of Youth field should give him a real acid test on Saturday.

Matt: The Fountain of Youth drew a field of eight, and seven of them won their most recent race. Burnham Square and Sovereignty already are winners on the Derby trail. Burnham Square has much more appeal to me because he is in the best form of his career right now. Brian mentioned that Sovereignty will make his first start after a four-month layoff, and that concerns me. Gate to Wire made a huge improvement in his first race on the main track in the seven-furlong Swale Stakes and is an interesting horse to consider at what should be larger odds.

Brian: I don’t know about you, Matt, but this is the most excited I’ve been about our group of older horses returning in several years, and Mindframe is one of the reasons. He received criticism for not winning the Belmont or the Haskell, but I have nothing but positives to say about a horse able to run that well in only his third and fourth lifetime starts, respectively.

Both Encino and Steal Sunshine are solid stakes performers, but if Mindframe returns in as good form as I believe he will in the Gulfstream Park Mile, I think we will be quickly talking about him as one of the best horses in the nation.

Matt: The Gulfstream Park Mile drew a field of nine horses from the handicap division. Mindframe will make his first start since running second in the Haskell last summer. He won his first two starts by a combined margin of 21 lengths and then ran into Dornoch, who was in fantastic form in his Belmont Stakes and Haskell victories. Running second was actually a positive for Mindframe. Encino won his last four starts, which include wins in the Battaglia and Lexington (G3) last year.

Brian: I don’t expect the attractive odds this week that I saw last week in the Rebel, but if bettors jump on Sovereignty and River Thames in the Fountain of Youth, there still could be nice value on Burnham Square. I like the race setup for his rally, and I like the horse he is becoming since getting down to Gulfstream Park and adding blinkers for trainer Ian Wilkes. Burnham Square is my top pick.

Matt: River Thames was impressive in his two starts with two of the best speed figures in the field. River Thames should run from a stalking position, and John Velazquez has won the Fountain of Youth fives times and Pletcher four times. I do not want to disappoint the HorseCenter fans who think I pick way too many horses from the Pletcher barn. River Thames will be my top pick.

Brian: I hate to be on the chalk, but anything other than a good-looking victory by Mindframe in the Gulfstream Park Mile would be a disappointment. It will be interesting to see if a strong performance here is enough for Repole and Pletcher to send him over for the Dubai World Cup (G1) later this month. As for this race, it is all about Mindframe. He is my top pick.

Matt: The Mindframe of 2024 was, simply put, much faster than the competition he will face in the Gulfstream Mile. He could come back even better as a 4-year-old. I expect Pletcher to have Mindframe ready to roll in his 2025 debut, and there is no Dornoch in this field to worry about. My top pick is also Mindframe.