Coronado’s Quest Gets an Earful

Not in 55 runnings has the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park drawn such a small field. But the four 3-year-olds in the race are heavy on pedigree, come from successful barns, have shown plenty of promise and will be ridden by top jockeys. It is not unreasonable to project that one of them could be covered with roses in less than three months at Churchill Downs.

In fact, of the Daily Racing Form’s nine leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby, four are running in today’s Fountain of Youth. Lil’s Lad, the 6-5 favorite on the morning line, has yet to win a stake, but those tiny superior figures on his record are not typos: This colt really has won his last two races by 22 3/4 lengths, and the most recent start was over the Gulfstream track and at 1 1/16 miles, same distance as the Fountain of Youth.

The others running for $200,000 are Coronado’s Quest, who is 8-5; Cape Town at 5-2 and Halory Hunter at 6-1. Coronado’s Quest is odds-on to go bananas in the paddock, as he did last time, before running a strong second to Time Limit in the Hutcheson Stakes.

“He’s got all the ability in the world,” said Mike Smith, who has ridden Coronado’s Quest in all of his races--five wins and one second in seven starts. “It’s just a matter of putting it together. It’s all mental right now. When he gets his mind straight, he can do anything.”

Shug McGaughey, who trains Coronado’s Quest, has had few days when the obstreperous colt hasn’t been a handful.

As the 4-5 favorite for the Hutcheson, the horse refused to budge from the paddock until Smith had dismounted. There was a comical procession to the track--the riderless Coronado’s Quest, his lead pony and Smith trailing along. The jockey didn’t climb aboard until the entire field had reached the track--technically a violation of racing rules, which say that all horses must carry their assigned weight from the paddock to the finish line.

Despite his pre-race problems in the Hutcheson, Coronado’s Quest drew a bead on Time Limit in the last sixteenth of a mile and missed by only a neck at seven furlongs. This is a horse who should appreciate more distance; as a 2-year-old in New York, he was already winning at 1 1/8 miles. But if 15,000 people at Gulfstream can light Coronado’s Quest’s fuse, McGaughey can only shudder at what 100,000 will do for the colt’s sanity at Churchill Downs.

Since the Hutcheson, McGaughey has schooled Coronado’s Quest in the paddock. “I was embarrassed at what happened last time,” McGaughey said. “All I can do is hope that he’s better this time.”

The other day, before a scheduled workout, Coronado’s Quest planted his hooves on the track and refused to budge for 10 minutes.

“When he’s behaving, he’ll gallop around there like a pony,” exercise rider Adolph Krajewski said. “He’s an easy horse to gallop. I don’t think he’s crazy, I think he’s just very smart.”

The colt will run today for the first time on Lasix, a diuretic commonly given to bleeders and a medication that can have a soothing effect. Also, McGaughey will stuff the horse’s ears with cotton when he brings him over to the paddock.

Trainers can be resourceful when they’re cornered. The late Laz Barrera once raced a horse with goggles. Jack Van Berg put earmuffs on Gate Dancer, who liked to lean on other horses.

McGaughey has a fast horse, but he needs to keep him from getting unhinged before he reaches the gate. If the cotton works, McGaughey said he is tempted to leave the cotton in for the running of the Fountain of Youth.

Jerry Bailey rides Lil’s Lad, Kent Desormeaux comes from California to replace Bailey astride Cape Town and Pat Day has the assignment on Halory Hunter, who is trainer Nick Zito’s last Kentucky Derby hopeful after his biggest client, Jim McIngvale, pulled all his horses out of Gulfstream this week. McIngvale blames the Gulfstream track for the rash of injuries his stable has suffered.

Gary Stevens, another California jockey, was supposed to ride Sweetsouthernsaint, but the horse is not running today because of an inflammation in one of his legs.

Cape Town, who beat Sweetsouthernsaint in the Holy Bull Stakes on Jan. 17, is trained by Wayne Lukas, who won the Fountain of Youth, the Florida Derby, the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont with Thunder Gulch in 1995.

Talking about Cape Town, Lukas said: “Some of the demons the others are fighting, we don’t have. This colt’s strength is his mental balance. He’s got a good mind and doesn’t let anything bother him.”

Shug McGaughey would like to buy a cupful.

Horse Racing Notes

Oaklawn Park will increase the winner’s purse from $450,000 to $1 million if Gentlemen, Silver Charm and Skip Away all run in the Oaklawn Handicap on April 4. . . . There once was a horse named Harry Caray. A son of Shecky Greene, who was named after the comedian, Harry Caray was bred by Joe Kellman, a former member of the Illinois Racing Board. Harry Caray was retired in 1985 after winning 16 of 102 starts.