HALLANDALE, Fla. -- Long before he crossed the finish line first Saturday to take the Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths, 3-year-old supercolt Pulpit flaunted the strength and confidence that has the racing world aflutter.
Five lengths 
behind speed-dueling leaders Arthur L. and Confide on the back stretch, jockey Shane Sellers and Pulpit made a daring charge as the field stormed into Gulfstream Park's treacherous final turn. And within moments, Pulpit was streaking past the leaders, proving that he is indeed worthy of the hype swirling around his brief, yet brilliant, career.
"This was a huge step for a young horse," said trainer Frank Brothers, who earlier had expressed concern about entering Pulpit in a stakes event after just two starts. "In his first two races, he had been in front and faced no adversity. He was hit for the first time in his career today, and he responded."
Then Brothers calmly uttered a statement that will likely grab the attention of every trainer even considering entering a colt in May's Kentucky Derby: "I wouldn't think that was his best out there today."
IF BROTHERS IS CORRECT, and Pulpit is just getting into top form, this colt may very well be horse racing's next superstar. Winning the way Pulpit won Saturday -- coming from off the pace at a track where virtually no horses win when coming from off the pace -- says volumes about this horse's potential.
The knock on Pulpit heading into the Fountain of Youth was that he was a product of an extremely biased track surface -- a speed horse on a speed track. Pulpit had never trailed in his first two races, which he won by a total of 14 1/4 lengths. Critics questioned how the colt would react if he couldn't get the lead.
That's no longer a concern.
"Before today, he never had any horses in front of him," Sellers said. "When we first came around the back side, he started looking at the two horses in front and kind of shied away. That's when I got into him for the first time and he just hit another gear."
When asked what that "other gear" felt like, Sellers was at a loss -- as if he'd never experienced anything like it before.
"I wish I could let you feel it ... for about five seconds," Sellers said.
THE GULFSTREAM CROWD OF 10,000-PLUS showed its appreciation with a pair of rousing ovations -- once when Pulpit returned to the winner's circle and again when he and Sellers posed for a victory picture.
Dell Hancock, whose family owns Pulpit, could hardly contain her emotions.
"This horse just gives you such a wonderful feeling," she said. "There's no feeling like it."
It's clear now to even the skeptics that Pulpit is something special. And unless he falters greatly in next month's $500,000 Florida Derby, he almost certainly will be the odds-on favorite for the 123rd running of the Kentucky Derby.
Brothers, who guided Hansel to victories in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1991, said Pulpit is unlike any horse he's ever trained.
"I don't think I've trained a colt like him," Brothers said. "This colt's got a lot of brilliance to him."
Ira Schoffel is a sportswriter on SportsLine USA's staff.
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