But it\u2019s been hit or miss with the colt as awful starts have cost him dearly in his other two races. In his debut race at Churchill Downs last June, another horse bumped into Dennis\u2019 Moment at the start and that prompted him to toss his jockey and get disqualified.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He also ran in the Grade I Breeders\u2019 Cup Juvenile in November, but as the 4-5 favorite, he stumbled out of the gate and never recovered, finishing last in the race.<\/p>\n
While it\u2019s been almost four months since his last race, you can make the argument that the colt hasn\u2019t raced since the Iroquois win more than five months ago. So it\u2019ll be interesting to see what kind of performance he can produce.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s race will also mark the first time jockey Flavien Prat will ride Dennis\u2019 Moment, who will break from the fifth gate.<\/p>\n
Romans typically tries to avoid hyping his horses, but he makes an exception for his Kentucky Derby contender.<\/p>\n
I usually like being the underdog because there\u2019s not much pressure,\u201d Romans said. \u201cWith this horse, there\u2019s so much hype with him \u2013 well-deserved, he\u2019s very talented. I put the pressure on myself because of what I think of him. I think he\u2019s ready to roll.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
While the Fountain of Youth field is deep, it\u2019s more quantity over quality. Still, there are a few challengers to Dennis\u2019 Moment who are making their graded stakes debut.<\/p>\n
As Seen On Tv is coming off of the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream on Jan. 4. In that mile race, the Kelly Breen-trained colt dueled down the final quarter-mile with Chance It, with the latter horse finally winning by a head.<\/p>\n
As Seen On Tv, trained by Kelly Breen and ridden by Paco Lopez, is at 9-2 and starts from the sixth gate.<\/p>\n
Chance It had been scheduled to run and break from the far outside gate. However, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. announced early Saturday afternoon he\u2019s pulling his colt from the Fountain of Youth. The plan now is to run him in next week\u2019s Tampa Bay Derby instead.<\/p>\n
Field Includes Graded Stakes Winner Shotski<\/h2>\n
Two other entries have graded stakes experience and could be value picks if their odds remain high.<\/p>\n
Shotski is coming down from Aqueduct, where he won the Grade II Remsen Stakes in December and finished second in the Grade III Withers four weeks ago. Shotski led up until the stretch in the Withers, but he faded in the 1-1\/8-mile race. The Fountain of Youth is a sixteenth shorter, so it might work in the Jeremiah O\u2019Dwyer-trained colt\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n
Ridden by John Velazquez, Shotski will start from the 10th gate with odds of 10-1. Like Dennis\u2019 Moment, Shotski will race carrying 124 pounds, the heaviest weight in the race. Chance It and As Seen On Tv will race two pounds lighter.<\/p>\n