ESKENDEREYA, a son of Giant's Causeway, landed the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes over 1m1f on the dirt of Gulfstream Park to put himself into Kentucky Derby consideration.

He left a couple of reputations on the floor after waltzing away with the contest by nearly nine lengths for jockey Johnny Velazquez.

The main Kentucky Derby hopes going into this trial were Jackson Bend and Buddy's Saint but trainer Todd Pletcher maintained that he considered nothing less than victory for his charge at Gulfstream. Jackson Bend was the distant runner-up and Eskendereya's stablemate Aikenite took the third spot. The race favorite Buddy's Saint was second last of the ten runners after encountering trouble in running.

Eskendereya's owner has received a fair amount of publicity of late as it is the Zayat Stables. Ahmed Zayat's operation was recently forced into bankruptcy due to unpaid bank loans of thirty four million dollars.

Eskendereya's betting odds plummeted from 33/1 to 7/1 (available with BetUS Sportsbook) after the emphatic success and Pletcher put up the Florida Derby, also at Gulfstream Park, as his charge's next assignment on the road to The Kentucky Derby.