Simplification and In Due Time finished 1-2 in Saturday’s $400,000 Fountain of Youth S. (G2), giving the two Not This Time colts key points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Challenge.

Both colts came from off the pace in what was a tightly-run race from the outset. Simplification was always well off the rail, while In Due Time spent much of the race bottled up behind horses along the rail. On the final turn, Simplication was five-wide as he made his move for the lead and had clear running in the stretch. In Due Time split horses in upper stretch to pursue the eventual winner, but got no closer than 3 ½-lengths at the wire.

Simplification covered the 1 1/16-miles in 1:44.04 on a fast track.

“For me, I liked the trip,” said winning trainer Antonio Sano. “I talked to [jockey] Jose [Ortiz] this morning and said you don’t need to be in the front. The start was very important. If the horse has a good start and a safe trip, you won’t have a problem. I wanted him to stay outside. The horse responded to Jose. He said, ‘Go,’ and it was all good.”

In scoring his first graded stakes win, Simplification upped his record to 3-1-1 in six starts, with earnings of $411,350 for owner Tami Bobo. The winner was bred by France and Irwin Weiner and is the first foal out of the stakes-placed Simply Confection.

Pedigree notes from the TDN

Few sires are hotter right now than Taylor Made’s Not This Time, who has the fewest crops of any of the top 10 sires on the 2022 general sire list. In addition to his one-two finish by Simplification and In Due Time in the Fountain of Youth, his Epicenter is also on the Derby trail with a stellar win Feb 19 in the GII Risen Star S. Not This Time also has an additional graded winner this year with Jan. 29 GII Inside Information S. winner Just One Time. His 17 black-type winners include six graded winners and his sustained success recently prompted Chris McGrath to name Not This Time possibly Giant’s Causeway’s “principal American successor.”