Fierceness returns with track record-setting performance in Alysheba

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a rough start to the day when they had to scratch Grande from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher enjoyed Friday afternoon a little better when their champion Fierceness made a successful return to the races winning the Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Making his first start since a runner-up finish in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, Fierceness, despite racing three-wide throughout under John Velazquez, outfinished Most Wanted and Florent Geroux in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths. It was 2 3/4 lengths back to Hall of Fame.

Locked, also trained by Pletcher but owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, finished fourth, followed by This Is Uscar and Katonah.

Not only did Fierceness win, but his final time of 1:40.66 for 1 1/16 miles was a track record, eclipsing the mark of 1:41.04 set by Successful Dan in the 2012 Alysheba. He returned $3.88 as the favorite and was assigned a Beyer Speed Figure of 107.

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“We know what he did in the Breeders’ Cup Classic,” said Repole, referring to a good second behind Sierra Leone despite attending a hot pace. “To come back after six months and to do that, that’s pretty special.”

Fierceness was originally being pointed by Pletcher to Sunday’s Grade 3 Westchester Stakes at Aqueduct, but Repole wanted to run in the Alysheba even if it meant running against Locked, who was coming off a dynamic victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.

“I didn’t want to bring him back to run at Aqueduct in front of 25 people,” Repole said. “We’re not going to not show up at any of the big races and that’s what we did.”

Fierceness benefited from a pedestrian early pace as he was within two lengths of the lead set by Most Wanted, who got away with a 48.31-second half-mile. Locked, under Jose Ortiz, was 5 1/2 lengths back at that point.

Around the far turn, Fierceness moved around This is Uscar and turning for home came up alongside Most Wanted who ran six furlongs in 1:11.11. The latter, under Florent Geroux, fought Fierceness until inside the sixteenth pole when Fierceness pulled away.

“I thought it was impressive. Never take for granted a layoff like that, to come back against a quality field and run like that,” Pletcher said. “The pacesetter dug in when he got to him, fought back and [Fierceness] kept going.”

Fierceness is by City of Light out of the Repole-owned dam Nonna Bella (beautiful grandmother) who is out of the Repole-owned dam Nonna Mia (my grandmother). It was five years ago Friday that Repole received a call that his grandmother, who he used to bring to the races all the time, passed away. Repole said that phone call was “a zillion times harder” than the call Pletcher made to him Friday morning informing him Grande had to scratch from the Derby due to a foot injury.

Velazquez said he was glad that Fierceness was not too aggressive entering the first turn.

“When I put him in the clear on the backstretch, he just really got into the bit and kept taking off,” Velazquez said.

Locked, jockey Jose Ortiz said, was compromised by the slow early pace.

“It looked like the pace was going to be a lot faster,” Ortiz said. “It’s a speed-favoring track, they went very slow early on, you can see after three-quarters they sped it up and I wasn’t able to keep up with them,” Ortiz said. “Those horses had more tactical speed, it was a race from the three-eighths pole to wire and it’s very hard to beat them with a closer.”

Fierceness, the champion 2-year-old of 2023, kicked off his career with an 11 1/4-length victory at Saratoga. At 3, he won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga. His next start will be the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 7 .

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