Mohaymen puts undefeated mark on the line in Fountain of Youth Stakes

According to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, there is more to Mohaymen now than the version that emphatically stamped himself the leading contender on the Kentucky Derby trail nearly four weeks ago.

The son of Tapit has added a few pounds to his gray frame, a welcome addition considering the light build he maintains. McLaughlin strives to put more weight on the unbeaten colt, but one could argue the Holy Bull Stakes winner is intimidating enough as is.

Just five rivals showed up in the entry box against Mohaymen when post positions were drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade II, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. And while Shadwell Stable’s multiple graded stakes winner looms as the favorite out of post No. 6 for the 1 1/16 -mile race, McLaughlin is hailing the compact set of challengers as Mohaymen’s toughest to date.

Mohaymen is one of three undefeated horses entered in the Fountain of Youth along with impressive allowance winner Zulu — who is stepping into stakes company for the first time in his third career start — and Swale Stakes victor Awesome Banner, who would be making his first attempt at stretching out beyond 7 furlongs. Add to that the early speed of aptly named stakes winner Awesome Speed and the late turn of foot shown by Fellowship during his third-place finish in the Holy Bull and Mohaymen figures to need his added constitution in order to emerge with his flawless record intact.

“This is a really tough race. There are going to be three undefeated horses in there and ... it’s just going to be a real test,” McLaughlin said from his base in Florida. “The big worry for me is that Awesome Banner gets to the lead and keeps going. Sometimes horses like that run big their first time going long, and Gulfstream can be speed-favoring so we hope it all works out well and we’ll continue to be undefeated. But it’s going to be a tough race for him on paper.”

Similar sentiments were echoed prior to the Holy Bull on Jan. 30, only to have them all drowned out when Mohaymen dispatched a field that included Grade I winner Greenpointcrusader by 3 1/2 lengths under little urging from jockey Junior Alvarado.

That outing marked the fourth win in as many tries for the stunning colt who was the $2.2 million co-sale topper at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling auction. Whether he was stalking just behind the early leaders as he did in the Holy Bull and Grade II Remsen last year or recovering from a sluggish break as he did in the Nashua last November, Mohaymen has proven he can make his own luck.

In his final work before the Fountain of Youth last Friday, Mohaymen displayed another sign of maturity, according to McLaughlin. The gray colt has always flashed ample speed in the mornings — more, sometimes, than his trainer would prefer — so his official clocking of :49.60 for 4 furlongs was a breath of fresh air for his connections.

“He’s always been working a little faster than we want so (that work) was beautiful because we just don’t need to be going that fast every week,” McLaughlin said. “Hopefully going forward we can do more 49s instead of 47s.

“He hasn’t gone the wrong way, he continues to go the right way and he’s just a really nice horse who does everything right. I think he’s put on a few pounds since the Holy Bull, which is good. If we can keep him like this, we’ll see how it goes.”

The Fountain of Youth lost a well-regarded contender in Cherry Wine, a 6-length winner of a 1 1/16 -mile allowance race at Gulfstream on Jan. 9. Trainer Dale Romans confirmed via text to the Herald-Leader that Cherry Wine had spiked a slight fever but “will be fine.” Romans — who also has Grade I winner Brody’s Cause on tap for the Tampa Bay Derby — added it was “too early” to think about where Cherry Wine could race next.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 5:23 PM with the headline "Mohaymen puts undefeated mark on the line in Fountain of Youth Stakes."