by Ed DeRosa

Nick Zito is a trainer who does not necessarily need a big race to get his horses ready for a big race.

When Strike the Gold won the Kentucky Derby (G1) in 1991, he did so after beginning his three-year-old season with a pair of allowance races before finishing second in the Florida Derby (G1) and winning the Blue Grass Stakes (G2).

The Racing Hall of Fame trainer looks loaded for the Triple Crown series this year with two of the top three three-year-old males on the Thoroughbred Times weekly poll and three of the top 14, and each of the three horses—champion War Pass at number one, Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Cool Coal Man at number three, and Sam F. Davis Stakes winner Fierce Wind at number 14—began his three-year-old season in an allowance race.

“It’s just the way I like to prepare a horse,” Zito said Monday, the morning after War Pass won his three-year-old debut in a Gulfstream Park allowance race. “I looked at the condition book and identified the races that fit my horses and would get them to where they need to be.”

One race before War Pass’s 7 1/2-length allowance win Cool Coal Man won the Fountain of Youth, which came four weeks after he won a 1 1/8-mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park. Robert LaPenta owns both horses

Four Roses Thoroughbreds’ Fierce Wind, who won the Sam F. Davis on February 16 at Tampa Bay Downs did so after winning a January 21 allowance race at Gulfstream by 5 1/4 lengths.

“We just have to keep this momentum going and hope to keep having these kinds of weeks,” Zito said.

Zito has yet to make final plans for his three-year-olds, although his strategy has taken some shape.

War Pass is most likely for the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) on March 15. The champion’s presence at Tampa most likely will relegate Fierce Wind to another location.

In 2005, Zito saddled the winners of both the Sam F. Davis and Tampa Bay Derby with Andromeda’s Hero and Sun King, respectively. That was the year he saddled a record five starters in the Kentucky Derby.

“When it comes to the big day [the Kentucky Derby], we’ve already been there; we’ve had a lot of big chances,” Zito said of his team. “The barn knows what it takes, and we’re grateful to be in this position.”

Cool Coal Man likely will have just one more start before the Kentucky Derby, and that could come in the Florida Derby. Fierce Wind also is possible for that race, though Zito said he wants to keep his horses separated as much as possible throughout the Triple Crown prep season.

“What we need to do is weigh our options,” Zito said.

Ed DeRosa is news editor for Thoroughbred Times