A herd of 3-year-old colts ran the slowest Fountain of Youth Stakes in 36 years today, raising more questions than they answered about their pathways to the Kentucky Derby. And they finished the Fountain in the same tight way they started it: Vicar first by a neck over Cat Thief, and Certain three-quarters of a length back in third.

All three colts are booked for a return match in the Florida Derby on the same Gulfstream Park track on March 13, the final flourish in Florida for horses bound for Kentucky. But while all three probably gained some experience from the Fountain of Youth, the issue remained wide open: Who is the ranking 3-year-old horse in the East?

''We at least found out that this horse wants to be a race horse,'' said Carl Nafzger, who trains Vicar for James Tafel, a retired book publisher from Illinois. He also trained Unbridled to victory in the 1990 Kentucky Derby. ''But there were six or seven horses in the race who will be on the Derby trail, and they'll all get better.''

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/21/sports/horse-racing-vicar-takes-slowest-fountain-of-youth-stakes-in-36-years.html