16-1 shot Fierceness wins Breeders’ Cup Juvenile
ARCADIA, Cali (AP) – Fierceness won the $2-million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 6 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on Friday, giving trainer Todd Pletcher the early favourite next year for the Kentucky Derby.
Pletcher and owner-breeder Mike Repole won the Juvenile last year with Forte. The colt came into the Kentucky Derby on a five-race winning streak and was the morning-line favourite only to be scratched hours before the race because of a bruise in his right front foot.
Repole was forced to scratch Uncle Mo, the early Derby favourite in 2011, the day before the race because of a gastrointestinal infection.
“The last two times I had to scratch the Derby favourite,” he said. “I might be skipping it.”
Fierceness made quite the turnaround from a 20-length defeat in the Champagne Stakes nearly a month ago. He won his debut in the mud at Saratoga by 11 lengths before getting trounced.
“The Champagne was a head-scratcher,” Pletcher said. “We had to go based on what we had been seeing from him all summer, before he was training for the Champagne and after the Champagne. Mike’s not afraid to take a shot. He said if you like the way he’s training, let’s take another shot.”
Pletcher earned his 15th Cup victory, while John Velazquez notched his 20th, second among jockeys on the career list.
Fierceness ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.90 and paid $35 to win at 16-1 odds.
“This one’s really special because 14 years ago the horse that won this race called Uncle Mo put the Repole Stable on the map. And Johnny Velazquez rode him,” Repole said. “We were in our 30s, now we’re in our 50s. These wins feel a lot better now.”
Muth, trained by Bob Baffert, was second. Locked, the 2-1 favorite also trained by Pletcher, was third.
Five of the seven horses that were scratched from Cup races Friday were for veterinary reasons, while the other two were by order of the stewards.
Two potential contenders died in the days leading up to the two-day world championships. Geaux Rocket Ride was injured in a workout and didn’t recover after having surgery. Practical Move collapsed after a gallop in what Cup officials said was a “suspected cardiac event”.