But garbage in this case was used as a relative term. What prep was better? What prep was less garbagish? a bunch of good horses running a good race?

I didn't use the word garbage.

I don't think it was a perticularly strong running of the Fountain of Youth, from a historical standpoint, and like BTW mentioned an allowance race earlier on in the card, at the same distance, only went a few lengths slower, and that winner overcame some serious trouble....although, IMO he was aided by the pace and the rail.

You are right though....there haven't been any real clashes of quality so far leading up to the Derby. The top four finishers in the FOY compare very favorably with the top four finishers from any other prep---from an accomplishment standpoint.