Jockeying Positions

The road to the Derby is heating up with jockeys vying for their mounts, already.

Keep your eye on The Fountain of Youth Stakes, to be run Sunday, February 26 at Gulfstream Park when three of the top contenders are scheduled to compete: Union Rags, Algorithms and Discreet Dancer. There is a little jockey shuffling going on as Javier Castellano, Union Rags' regular rider, has announced his intentions to ride the Todd Pletcher trained Algorithms in the Fountain of Youth.

Trainer Michael Matz has replaced Castellano with Julien Leparoux who gave Union Rags a nice workout on February 13. It was the first time he had ridden the colt.

Castellano is also the regular rider for the other Todd Pletcher-trained contender, Discreet Dancer, who will be ridden in the Fountain of Youth by John Velazquez.

In my opinion, there is not much that separates these cream of the crop jockeys from each other which actually levels the playing field. It will be all up to the horse and his trip, as all good races ultimately are. Let's just hope everybody stays healthy so we can enjoy this Derby preview!