Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Fierceness takes first step down Kentucky Derby Road

ARCADIA, Calif. - Fierceness, dominant 6 1/4-length winner of Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, will likely take the same Florida path to the Kentucky Derby that his predecessor Forte did last year, trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday.

Hopefully, the end result will be better.

Forte won the 2022 Juvenile to cap his 2-year-old championship campaign. At 3, Forte won the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park before a bruised foot knocked him out of the Kentucky Derby.

Fierceness, like Forte trained by Pletcher for Mike Repole, stamped himself as the super-early favorite for the Derby with his solid victory in the Juvenile, in which he beat four Grade 1 winners from this year’s 2-year-old crop - Muth, Locked, Timberlake and Prince of Monaco.

Pletcher believes Fierceness trains like and has the pedigree to suggest he could be effective at the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles. Fierceness earned 30 qualifying points toward the Derby under the system Churchill Downs uses to determine the field in case, as it usually does, the Derby draws more than 20 entrants. Fierceness earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure.

“The horse has always trained really impressively, that includes galloping out like a horse that wants to run that far,” Pletcher said Saturday morning.

Fierceness is by City of Light, who won the Grade 1 Pegasus at 1 1/8 miles, out of the dam Nonna Bella, whose only two wins came sprinting. Nonna Bella, a half-sister to Wood Memorial winner Outwork, is by Travers winner Stay Thirsty.

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“You could make some argument that he’s got the pedigree that says he will go that far,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said Fierceness will head to Kentucky after this weekend and be based at Churchill Downs before likely heading to Pletcher’s winter base at Palm Beach Downs in Florida.

Pletcher said the Florida Derby on March 30 would likely be “the main prep target.” Pletcher said he’s not sure if the Holy Bull on Feb. 3 or the Fountain of Youth on March 2 would be the initial 2024 target for Fierceness.

John Velazquez rode Fierceness to victory in the Juvenile, riding the horse for the first time after Irad Ortiz Jr. had ridden him to an impressive debut victory at Saratoga and a seventh-place finish in the Champagne.

Pletcher had Velazquez work Fierceness once at Keeneland in between the Champagne and the Juvenile and Velazquez was impressed with the horse. Pletcher said having Velazquez ride Fierceness and Ortiz on Noted was a decision that went down to entry day.

“It was sort of a gut feel for Mike and I that Johnny would fit him well,” Pletcher said. “We were talking strategy, one of the things we were saying is try to get him the same trip as Uncle Mo, a forward, stalking position.”

Velazquez rode Uncle Mo to victory in the 2010 Juvenile.

Locked, also trained by Pletcher, finished third in the Juvenile, after getting shuffled back early and showing some disdain for the kickback around the turn.

“Even though he got beat 6 1/2 lengths, he was closing well,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately, he got shuffled a little too far back and took a lot of kickback. He made a good run, obviously Fierceness had spurted away from him at that point.”

Locked will also go to Churchill, Pletcher said, and then likely to Florida while discussions for his 3-year-old campaign will be discussed with owners.

Noted, who finished last for Pletcher, could get a freshening at WinStar Farm before joining him in Florida. That horse will likely return to the turf next year.

Plans for trainer Bob Baffert’s Juvenile runners Muth (2nd), Prince of Monaco (5th) and Wine Me Up (10th) are to be determined.

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