Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, Feb. 22 (50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth.) With 2-1 favorite Top Billing hindered by a strong front-running track bias, Wildcat Red and General a Rod dueled from start to finish to earn 50 and 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Meanwhile, Top Billing made the strongest positive impression, finishing third for 10 points, as 72-1 shot East Hall mildly bucked the bias for fourth. At Gulfstream on Saturday, every dirt race, with the exception of Normandy Invasion’s track-record-setting victory in a one-mile allowance race, was a wire-to-wire job. Very few stretch runners made up any ground all day. The fast fractional splits shared by the top two were 23.03 seconds for the quarter-mile, 46.25 for the half, six furlongs in 1:10.13, and 1:35.24 for the mile en route to Wildcat Red’s fast 1:41.85 final time, which earned him a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Given the aberrant track conditions, it would be wrong to give Top Billing negative marks for failing to win the Fountain of Youth. The son of Curlin broke last from post 11 in the 12-horse field and was well handled by Joel Rosario while making forward progress to gain a striking position on the final turn. [ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays] After gaining a few lengths to the eighth pole, Top Billing finished with good energy but could only make up 1 1/2 lengths to the wire, finishing two lengths behind the dueling leaders. The bottom line: This was a good performance against a strong front-running track bias and could help Shug McGaughey’s colt moving forward. On the other hand, Wildcat Red and General a Rod’s performances were in strict keeping with their outing Jan. 1 at Gulfstream. On that occasion, General a Rod defeated Wildcat Red by a head after the pair dueled through the final half-mile of the one-mile Gulfstream Park Derby. Both certainly have speed to be reckoned with but will need to prove their ability on a fairer surface to judge their true Kentucky Derby potential. East Hall started slowly from his outside post and raced in the rear with Top Billing for the first half-mile. While East Hall remained toward the rear into the final turn, he kept his stride together to midstretch, passing a handful of tiring horses. At the wire, East Hall was a clear-cut fourth, 4 1/2 lengths behind Top Billing. Todd Pletcher’s two horses in the field – Commissioner and We Miss Artie – failed to impress. Commissioner, who narrowly beat Top Billing earlier in the meet, raced evenly to finish sixth. He might do better on a fairer racing surface. We Miss Artie made a decent run to get within three lengths of the lead on the final turn but mysteriously lost 14 lengths in the final five-sixteenths to finish eighth.  [Clocker Reports: Get Mike Welsch’s clocker reports from Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows] Earlier Saturday, in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race for promising 3-year-olds, Pletcher’s Constitution followed the day’s winning script at Gulfstream Park, wiring the field in 1:42.19. That was just 0.34 seconds slower than Wildcat Red’s 1:41.85 in the Fountain of Youth. Pletcher had five winners on the card, including Onlyforyou, who wired the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes in 1:43.71. Javier Castellano won six, including scores with Normandy Invasion, Constitution, and Onlyforyou. Next: The Grade 3, $500,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday.