FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH STAKES : Dehere Overcomes Bad Start to Win

Two-year-old champion Dehere came from well off the pace to win the $200,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream on Saturday.

Dehere beat Go For Gin by three-quarters of a length, with Ride The Rails third. Warm Wayne was fourth and previously unbeaten Holy Bull, the favorite at 7-5, faded to last in a field of six.

Ridden by Craig Perret, Dehere ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:44 3/5 and paid $6.80, $3.40 and $2.80. Go For Gin paid $2.80 and $2.40. Ride The Rails paid $2.80.

Dehere carried 119 pounds in this final major prep for the $500,000 Florida Derby on March 12.

This was Perret’s first ride on Dehere. The colt’s regular rider, Chris McCarron, was suspended in California.

“This is a great horse,” Perret said. “He didn’t like the race track (listed as good) at all and still won. He stumbled a little (at the start) and wasn’t picking it up at all. But when I asked him to run going to the (far) turn he really gave me everything he had. He got the job done in spite of everything. This is a good horse, with a good head. He’s dangerous every time he runs.”

Holy Bull took the lead at the start, but Halo’s Image never gave him any breathing room. On the first turn, Holy Bull, on the outside, led Halo’s Image by a head. Ride The Rails was third, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Go For Gin. Dehere was six lengths farther back.

Midway down the backstretch, Halo’s Image remained within a head of Holy Bull. Ride The Rails was two lengths off the lead, with Go For Gin fourth and Dehere gaining ground in fifth.

On the far turn, Halo’s Image took the lead and opened a length on Holy Bull. Ride The Rails moved up on the rail with Go For Gin alongside. Dehere was moving on the outside and took the lead inside the eighth pole.

Jimmy Croll, owner and trainer of Holy Bull, feared that his horse had bled from the lungs.

“Something had to have happened for him to stop that badly,” Croll said. But after checking the horse at his barn, Croll said he found no evidence of bleeding.