SPECTACULAR BID, BET TWICE , THUNDER GULCH and ORB are just a few of the well known, modern-era Winners of the Fountain Of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

First run in 1945 and currently contested over 1 1⁄16 miles, the Fountain of Youth has been producing Derby contenders for generations.

TIM TAM put the race on the map by completing the Fountain of Youth/Kentucky Derby double in 1958, a feat subsequently replicated by KAUAI KING (1966), SPECTACULAR BID (1979), THUNDER GULCH (1995), and ORB (2013).

Very few Fountain of Youth Winners have been more dazzling than SPECTACULAR BID. A Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame inductee, he crushed his rivals by 8 1⁄2 lengths and crossed the wire in 1:41.20.

Fountain of Youth non-winners have also enjoyed strong success in the Kentucky Derby, a testament to the quality of competition the race attracts. 

Derby Winners PLEASANT COLONY (1981), SWALE (1984), UNBRIDLED (1990), and GO FOR GIN (1994) all came up short at Gulfstream before reaching the Winner’s Circle on the first Saturday in May.

The Fountain of Youth produced just one Kentucky Derby Winner during the first two decades of the 21st century, but the race remains deeply relevant as an avenue toward the Triple Crown.

Derby runners-up ICE BOX (2010), GOOD MAGIC (2018), and CODE OF HONOR (2019) all competed in the Fountain of Youth, as did Preakness (G1) Winner SHACKLEFORD and Belmont Stakes (G1) Winners JAZIL (2006) and UNION RAGS (2012).

As part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series, Saturday’s Fountain of Youth Stakes awards 50 Derby qualification points to the Winner, essentially making the race a Win and You’re In qualifier for the Derby.