Cool Coal Man hits pay dirt in Fountain of Youth

Robert LaPenta's COOL COAL MAN (Mineshaft) made a bold three-wide move approaching the final turn and held off a resilient Elysium Fields (El Prado [Ire]) in posting a half-length win in the $350,000 Fountain of Youth S. (G2) at Gulfstream Park on Sunday. Trained by Nick Zito, who also saddled champion War Pass (Cherokee Run) to a facile triumph in his sophomore debut in the following race, Cool Coal Man traveled 1 1/8 miles in 1:50 en route to his second consecutive win over this surface. Sent off at 7-1, the winner, who was ridden flawlessly by Kent Desormeaux, paid $16.60, $8.40 and $6.

Due to a timer malfunction, the race was hand timed. According to the final version of the official chart, the fractions were :24, :47 3/5, 1:11 2/5 and 1:36 1/5.

Desormeaux sensed that the originally reported time, 1:51 4/5, was wrong.

"I think we went faster than what the clock said," the winning rider correctly observed. "But time is irrelevant -- we won!"

Golden Spikes (Seeking the Gold) broke best and led the field for the opening half-mile, with Make the Point (Menifee) pressing him throughout, Elysium Fields well in hand in third on the outside and Cool Coal Man rating patiently along the rail in fourth. The leader was tiring around the backside and Elysium Fields was asked for a little more approaching the final turn, moving into a prime striking position, but Cool Coal Man quickly overtook that one and opened a 1 1/2-length lead in midstretch.

The race was far from over, though, as Eibar Coa aboard Elysium Fields moved to the outside to make one more run at the winner in an impressive second-place effort. The runner-up paid $8 and $4.40 at nearly 9-1 and completed the $87.80 exacta ($1). It was 5 3/4 lengths back to Court Vision (Gulch), who was last after four furlongs and had just one horse topped after six panels, but made up a good deal of ground late in a fine third-place showing. The 4-1 second choice was worth $3.40 and capped the $633.80 trifecta ($1) while 2 1/4 lengths clear of his nearest challenger. Z Humor (Distorted Humor) rallied well while six wide to conclude the 1-9-3-5 superfecta ($1), which paid $6,386.70, at 14-1. Golden Spikes was next and followed by Halo Najib (Halo's Image), Kentucky Bear (Mr. Greeley), Anak Nakal (Victory Gallop), Adriano (A.P. Indy), Ready Set (Touch Gold), Make the Point and Monba (Maria's Mon).

"Being in the one hole already gave me a luxury," Desormeaux recapped of his ride aboard Cool Coal Man. "We all really hustled for position going into the first turn. We were fortunate to get in good position. I had to encourage him to stay on the rail. When he got the lead, he started to look around, and he idled. I stopped hissing at him for about 40 yards, and when I started back, he took off again. I was concerned about the nine horse (Elysium Fields). It's hard to sustain that kind of speed for a long time, but when we were galloping out after the wire, he moved out again once he felt the other horse come up to him.

"My hat goes off to Zito," Desormeaux continued. "He told me, 'You know what to do. You didn't get here not knowing what to do.' My horse was very handy and attentive to my needs."

"He couldn't have gotten a better trip," Zito said. "I had confidence going in with the post that Kent would get a good position with him. He's run two great races here. I can't say where or what race he'll will run in, possibly the Florida Derby ([G1] on March 29). He's not a big horse. He'd need to have a good 30 days from now. We'll see."

Cool Coal Man picked up his first stakes win in improving his lifetime mark to 7-4-1-0, $307,531. A winner in his first two-turn start at Delaware Park as a juvenile, the bay colt won an allowance race at Churchill Downs in fine fashion prior to finishing a tiring seventh in the Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2) over that same oval.

The winner was bred in Kentucky by W.S. Farish, E.J. Hudson Jr. Irrevocable Trust et al and is out of the winning Coral Sea (Rubiano), making him a half-brother to the stakes-winning Kathleen's Reel (Lemon Drop Kid). Coral Sea, a three-quarters sister to multiple Grade 3 hero and Grade 1-placed Signal Tap (Fappiano), is herself a daughter of multiple stakes-placed South Sea Dancer (Northern Dancer), who counts dual champion and influential sire Storm Bird as a full brother.

Cool Coal Man has an unnamed two-year-old half-brother by Langfuhr and an unnamed yearling full brother. The Fountain of Youth winner was purchased for $200,000 as a Keeneland September yearling prior to not meeting his reserve when a final bid of $850,000 was offered for him as a Fasig-Tipton February two-year-old in training.