'Wickedly Talented' Maiden Victory Avenue Still Possible For Florida Derby

Victory Avenue, the precocious 3-year-old maiden trained by Gustavo Delgado who was scratched the morning of the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2), will be entered Saturday in the March 30 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) if all goes well during a planned breeze later this week at Gulfstream Park.

“We’ll look to see how he breezes Friday or Saturday, and if all goes well our first option is to stay home [at Gulfstream],” said Ramiro Restrepo, who represents part of Victory Avenue’s ownership group. “We’re also nominated to the Wood (G2, April 6 at Aqueduct), or we could pack up and wait for Churchill Downs or Keeneland and a maiden race. He’s a wickedly, wickedly talented horse, so we want to do what’s right, so we’ll monitor him as we go along.”

A high energy horse who is still a bit immature, Victory Avenue was scratched from the March 2 Fountain of Youth when he was unusually quiet the morning of the race. The son of champion Arrogate has raced only once, finishing second in his debut Jan. 27 behind Speak Easy, who was also scratched from the Fountain of Youth when he ran off, dropped his jockey, and hit the rail shortly after the post parade.

The $1 million Florida Derby, which has produced 25 Kentucky Derby winners, is expected to draw a quality field including 2-year-old champion Fierceness, a troubled third in the Feb. 3 Holy Bull (G3), Hades, the upset winner of the Holy Bull, and the second, third and fourth place finishers from the Fountain of Youth – Le Dom Bro, Frankie’s Empire and Real Macho.

The post position draw for the Derby will take place Saturday afternoon at approximately 1:50 p.m. The draw can be seen live at GulfstreamPark.com.