Ferocious will go next in Breeders' Futurity

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Ferocious, runner-up to Chancer McPatrick in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes on Sept. 2 at Saratoga, will make his next start in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 5 at Keeneland, part-owner Ramiro Restrepo said Tuesday.

Restrepo said the ability to stretch Ferocious out in distance and go two turns made the Breeders’ Futurity more appealing than the Grade 1, $400,000 Champagne, a one-turn mile race run the same day at Aqueduct.

“More than anything, it’s the two turns, mile and a sixteenth,” Restrepo said. “That extra sixteenth of a mile will help him a lot. We wanted to get him out of the one-turn [races], he’s not a sprinter. In two starts he’s been sprinting. He’s the only one attending the pace and sticking around at the end. I look forward when we start going a distance of ground, the [slower early fractions] will be more conducive to his style.”

Ferocious, a 7 3/4-length debut winner Aug. 3 at Saratoga, lost a shoe in the Hopeful. Restrepo said there have been no issues with the foot since the race. Ferocious, trained by Gustavo Delgado Sr., has remained in Saratoga and was expected to have his third breeze over the Oklahoma training track since the Hopeful on Saturday before shipping to Kentucky a day or two later.

Restrepo said a rider has not yet been confirmed for Ferocious, a son of Flatter who is owned by many of the same connections that owned 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage. Javier Castellano rode him in his debut win and Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard for the Hopeful. Castellano is expected to return to race-riding on Oct. 3 after missing five weeks due to a hand injury. Ortiz is committed to ride in New York on Oct. 5.

Entries for the Breeders’ Futurity will be taken Monday.

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