Pletcher locked and loaded for Alysheba Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It may not be what trainer Todd Pletcher wanted to do, but racing fans will get a treat when the Pletcher pair of Locked and Fierceness square off as part of a six-horse field entered in Friday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs.

While Pletcher was keyed in on this race for Locked, he was planning to have Fierceness make his seasonal debut in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Westchester Stakes at Aqueduct. Owner Mike Repole, who along with a bevy of family and friends at Churchill Downs this week, wanted to watch Fierceness run here.

Locked was a Grade 1 winner before finishing third to Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita in November 2023. A knee injury diagnosed in early winter of his 3-year-old season knocked Locked out for most of 2024.

He salvaged the year by winning an allowance in October and the Grade 2 Cigar Mile in December, both at Aqueduct. After Locked missed the break and finished second to White Abarrio in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January, Pletcher slapped blinkers on Locked for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and he rolled to an 8 1/2-length victory in the 1 1/4-mile race in March.

:: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now.

Hit Show, third in the Santa Anita Handicap, shipped to Meydan to win the $12 million Dubai World Cup. The Pegasus also proved to be a key race, with White Abarrio and third-place finisher Skippylongstocking coming back to win stakes. Mixto, fourth in the Pegasus, ran second in the Dubai World Cup.

Locked, a son of Gun Runner, has won run races seven furlongs, a mile, and 1 1/4 miles since his return from injury.

“He’s a little bit dependent on an honest pace in here,” Pletcher said. “He’s been successful at shorter distances for sure, but he’s probably at his very best going a little longer than a mile and a sixteenth.”

Locked will break from post 2 under Jose Oritz.

Fierceness, the champion 2-year-old male of 2023, finished 15th as the favorite in last year’s Kentucky Derby. Since then, he won the Jim Dandy and Travers – in the latter beating Thorpedo Anna – before finishing second to Sierra Leone in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Fierceness has been working very well at the Palm Beach Downs training center for his return.

“He’s always been an impressive horse to watch breeze, and he continues to be that way. Still, this is first time out since the Breeders’ Cup and going a mile and a sixteenth,” Pletcher said. “He seems to be as good as he was, if not better.”

John Velazquez rides Fierceness, who, at 118 pounds, gets a five-pound weight allowance from Locked.

Hall of Fame, a 4-year-old son of Gun Runner, ran himself off last year’s Triple Crown trail with relatively poor performances in Derby preps at Fair Grounds. He came back with two allowance wins and a victory in the Grade 3 Mineshaft. Most recently, in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic, Hall of Fame finished second behind Touchuponastar.

“Hall of Fame is a horse that’s put up some extremely good numbers,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He has the win last fall at Churchill and is doing excellent. He has got the opportunity on Friday to jump to the head of the class.”

With Jose Ortiz riding Locked, Joel Rosario has picked up the mount on Hall of Fame.

Most Wanted came off a near four-month layoff to finish second behind Skippylongstocking in the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. That was Most Wanted’s first start since he ran second in the Grade 2 Clark on Nov. 29 at Churchill.

“We were second, but I thought he got a lot out of it. It was his first race since the Clark,” trainer Brad Cox said. “Once again, I think he’s got to take a step forward. He received some good figures out of that last run, probably needs to move up a little bit.”

Most Wanted will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post 5.

“I think he can take control of the race or sit off it, if need be,” Cox said.

Katonah, sixth in the Santa Anita Handicap and 10th in the Dubai World Cup, is back for more in this spot. He did win the Grade 2 San Pasqual in January.

This is Uscar, a two-length, front-running winner of a second-level allowance April 7 at Keeneland, completes the field.

The Alysheba goes as race 6 on the 13-race Kentucky Oaks program.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.