Fierceness will skip Belmont Stakes, point to Haskell

Fierceness, last year’s 2-year-old champion male who finished 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, will skip the $2 million Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga and instead point to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell on July 20 at Monmouth Park, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday afternoon.

Pletcher said he feels Fierceness “needs a little more time” after his race in the Derby.

“When he came back from Churchill, he was a little tucked up, his appetite was a little off, and we just think he’ll benefit from a little more time,” Pletcher said. “I’m happy with the way he’s galloping.”

Pletcher now intends to run Mindframe, Antiquarian, and Protective in the Belmont Stakes. Those three horses will breeze Saturday at Saratoga.

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Pletcher was planning to breeze Fierceness this weekend but instead will wait until next week to work him again.

Fierceness, by City of Light, has been an enigma of sorts, firing a brilliant race and then failing to fire at all. At 2, he won his debut by 11 1/4 lengths and then finished seventh in the Grade 1 Champagne before winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 6 1/4 lengths.

This year, Fierceness finished third in the Grade 2 Holy Bull before winning the Grade 1 Florida Derby by a record-setting 13 1/2 lengths.

In the Kentucky Derby, Fierceness got off a half-step slow and was a close-up third while three wide before retreating in the stretch.

Mindframe, by Constitution, is an exciting prospect based on the way he won his first two starts. The Belmont will be his stakes debut. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides.

Antiquarian, a son of Preservationist, is coming off a three-quarter-length victory in the Grade 3 Peter Pan on May 11 at Aqueduct. John Velazquez, who would have ridden Fierceness, will ride Antiquarian.

Protective, a son of Medaglia d'Oro, is a maiden who has finished third in both the Wood Memorial and Peter Pan.

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