LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For nearly a quarter of a century, the trainer-jockey team of Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez was arguably the most successful in racing. The duo combined to win 1,866 races – including a Kentucky Derby in 2017 with Always Dreaming and a Belmont Stakes with the filly Rags to Riches in 2007 – and more than $163 million in purse money. In recent years, the two have found more of their success with other partners. But for Kentucky Derby 150, the band is back together. Velazquez will ride Fierceness, the likely favorite, in the Derby for Pletcher on May 4 as the Hall of Fame rider seeks his fourth win in the race while Pletcher looks for his third. “I don’t think we’re going to quite make 2,000 wins but it’s not too far off, which is pretty phenomenal when you think about it,” Pletcher said. “For a lot of those wins to have come in really big races, but not the Derby before Always Dreaming; that made it an even more special win, sharing that with Johnny. He was really wanting that, I was really wanting that.” Since Always Dreaming, Velazquez has only ridden one horse in the Derby for Pletcher, that being Vino Rosso who finished ninth in 2018. Pletcher has started 12 horses over the last five Derbies, while Velazquez has ridden for Bob Baffert, or horses once trained by him, the last four runnings. Velazquez won the 2020 Derby for Baffert aboard Authentic and was disqualified post-race from a victory in 2021 on the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit when the horse tested positive for a banned substance. This will be the third straight year that Baffert is banned from running horses in the Derby. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Fierceness is owned by Mike Repole. In 2011, Pletcher, Repole and Velazquez had the favorite for the Kentucky Derby in Uncle Mo, who had to scratch the day before the race due to an intestinal issue. As fate would have it, Velazquez picked up the mount on Animal Kingdom, subbing for an injured Robby Albarado, and won his first Kentucky Derby. It was around 2018 when the Pletcher-Velazquez partnership started to wane some. That fall, Velazquez was the regular rider of Code of Honor for Shug McGaughey and Vino Rosso for Todd Pletcher. When those two ran in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, Velazquez, on Code of Honor, claimed foul against Irad Ortiz Jr. on Vino Rosso and was ultimately put up by the New York stewards via disqualification. Vino Rosso, with Ortiz, would come back to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic that fall at Santa Anita. Pletcher didn’t note the Vino Rosso-Code of Honor situation as a reason why he wasn’t using Velazquez as often. “There were a lot of factors. We weren’t doing as well and at the same time he went to California for a couple of winters,” Pletcher said. “Naturally, we built more of a relationship with Irad. Going to California worked out very well for [Velazquez], teaming up with Baffert. There were never any hard feelings; it was sort of the way it evolved.” Ortiz rode Fierceness in his first two starts, a dynamic maiden victory at Saratoga and a disappointing seventh in the Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct. Following the Champagne, Pletcher moved Fierceness to Keeneland to train and one morning needed a rider to work Fierceness. Velazquez was available. He worked the horse again the following week, but it wasn’t until entry day that Repole and Pletcher settled on Velazquez to ride Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Ortiz rode Noted, the other horse Pletcher had for Repole in the race. “Mike and I, for whatever reason, we had a good feeling on Breeders’ Cup entry day that Johnny was a good fit for the horse,” Pletcher said. “He worked him at Keeneland and was very impressed by him. If Johnny had happened to be in New York when this horse was breezing at Keeneland it might not have unfolded that way.” Velazquez rode Fierceness to a 6 1/4-length victory in the Juvenile. “Two years ago, when Forte was at Keeneland for the [Breeders’ Cup], Johnny wasn’t riding many of my horses,” Repole said. “I saw him eating breakfast one day and I said, ‘We’re going to have one more together.’ A year and a half later, here we are. There’s something special about this.” Velazquez rode Fierceness to a disappointing third-place finish in the Holy Bull in February and a dynamic 13 1/2-length victory in the Florida Derby, a performance that is the best among the expected Derby starters. On Friday, Velazquez put Fierceness through his final workout for the Kentucky Derby, a half-mile move in 48.63 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch. Over a track that was yielding fast times most of the morning, Fierceness got his final quarter in 23.60 and punctuated the move by a sterling gallop-out of five furlongs in 1:00.61, six furlongs in 1:12.50, and seven furlongs in 1:26.11. “Very nice, very happy the way he did it,” Velazquez said. “He’s done everything really good, man. For a horse like him, when he goes to work, he wants to work.” The previous two weeks, Velazquez flew from Kentucky to Florida to work the horse at Pletcher’s Palm Beach Downs base. Last week, over a somewhat dull track, Fierceness worked five furlongs in 1:00.35, pulling away from his workmate in the lane. “He loved last week’s work at Palm Beach Downs. Mike asked him was this one better, he said he thought it was even better,” Pletcher said of Friday’s move. “At this stage, we couldn’t be happier with the way he’s shipped in, the way he’s trained, the way he’s breezed over the track. So far, so good.” At 52, Velazquez said he’s still energized by riding horses the quality of Fierceness, especially for Pletcher. “I’m happy we’re still together, riding horses and still doing well with him,” Velazquez said. “There was nothing I’m going to hold a grudge over. I’m here, I want to ride good horses. This is what gets me excited, this is what keeps me coming back.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.