Forte is Back

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview —-

Photo by Jaime Newell

TRINITY, Fla. – Forte, Practical Move and Raise Cain all earned a spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate with 50-point wins in prep races on March 4 across the country.

Forte, a son of Violence, easily won the Fountain of Youth in 1:43.12 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth race at Gulfstream Park in South Florida.

Practical Move also had little trouble in winning the San Felipe at the same distance in 1:42.01 at Santa Anita Park in Southern California. The son the Practical Joke previously won the Los Alamitos Futurity in December.

Raise Cain, another son of Violence, won the one-mile Gotham at Aqueduct in New York. Besides it being winter racing in the “Big Apple,” the contest was over a sloppy track so take from it what you will. The final time was 1:38.09.

The other points race was the John Battaglia on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky. The winner, Congruent, only got 20 points for the win so a spot in the Derby starting gate is not a certainty. The gray son of Tapit shipped up from Florida and was ridden by 2022 Kentucky Derby winning jockey Sonny Leon who guided Rich Strike to the massive 80-1 upset. The colt is trained by Antonio Sano.

Forte (sire: Violence) showed no rust whatsoever in taking the Fountain of Youth after a four-month layoff since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile the first of November. He’s trained by Todd Pletcher.

Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) will either come back in the Arkansas Derby or the Santa Anita Derby after his impressive win in the Southwest Stakes (96 Beyer) at Oaklawn Park. He’s now in the care of Tim Yakteen.

Instant Coffee (Bolt d’Oro) has won the Kentucky Jockey Club at Louisville and the Lecomte at Fairgrounds in New Orleans. He’s Brad Cox’s top runner.

Practical Move (Practical Joke) San Felipe win proves he legit.

Confidence Game (Candy Ride) earned his spot in the Kentucky Derby with his Rebel win.

Faustin (Curlin) ran second in the one-turn San Vicente to his speedster stablemate Havameltdown. Faustin is a two-turn colt and didn’t embarrass himself in the San Vicente.

Cave Rock (Arrogate) was flying high until he ran into Forte in the Juvenile. The colt had his first work of 2023 recently and clocked a snappy four furlongs in 47.80.

Reincarnate (Good Magic) won the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita and was third in the Rebel after some trouble in the stretch drive. He’s now running out of the Yakteen barn.

Litigate (Candy Ride) is trained by Pletcher and has room for improvement after his Sam F. Davis win.

Verifying (Justify) is one of the many colts Cox is training, but he was fourth in the Rebel.

Raise Cain (Violence) has the points but is he good enough? He’s trained by Ben Colebrook.

Others to keep an eye on: Victory Formation (Tapwrit) won the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn. He’s another Cox colt. Gun Pilot (had no place to run in the Rebel), Newgate, Red Route One (second in the Rebel), Two Phils, National Treasure, Geaux Rocket Ride (second in the San Felipe) and Angel of Empire.