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.