Last seen at the races, Fierceness was rolling to a 6 ¼-length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at 16-1 odds three months ago.
Not only did the emphatic victory over the three top choices Muth, Locked, and Timberlake earn Fierceness the Eclipse Award as 2-year-old male champion, it propelled him to the early favorite’s role for the 150th Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4.
So, you can kiss those 16-1 odds goodbye when Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher sends out his champ in the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) on Saturday.
A field of eight is entered for the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull, with Mike Repole-owned Fierceness the overwhelming 3-5 favorite. Otello, winner of the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream on Jan. 1, is the second choice at 9-2.
Fierceness tuned up for his 3-year-old debut on Saturday (Jan. 27) with a 4-furlong work in 49.33 seconds at Palm Beach Downs. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was aboard. Pletcher is pleased with the progress being made by the bay son of City of Light.
“He had a serious work last week (5 furlongs in 59.48 on Jan. 20). We were just looking for a maintenance work today (Jan. 27),” Pletcher said. “Knock on wood. He’s done everything super this winter. We’re excited getting him going again.”
Otello, trained by Christophe Clement, is 2-for-2 and beat three Holy Bull rivals in the Mucho Mach Man (Sea Streak was third, Inveigled was fourth, No More Time was fifth). It will be Otello’s first race around two turns.
“We’re looking forward for him to take the next step, which is no easy task taking on last year’s champion,’’ Clement said.
The Holy Bull is part of the Florida road to the Derby and offers qualifying points of 20-10-6-4-2 to the first five finishers. The other Derby preps at Gulfstream are the Fountain of Youth (G2) on March 2, and the Florida Derby (G1) on March 30.
After the Holy Bull, the plan for Fierceness is the Florida Derby as a final prep before the Kentucky Derby. Pletcher says he likes the spacing between the three races.
“Knock on wood, everything’s gone according to plan so far and hopefully continues to go that way,’’ Pletcher said. He’s had some super breezes leading up to this, and we’re super excited about getting him started.”
Post time for the Holy Bull is 5:48 p.m. ET.
The picks: 1 Fierceness 2 Inveigled 3 Otello
The field for the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3), with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Hades (Paco Lopez, Joe Orseno), 6-1
2 Inveigled (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Jane Cibelli), 12-1
3 Otello (Luis Saez, Christophe Clement), 9-2
4 Dancing Groom (Junior Alvarado, Antonio Sano), 30-1
5 No More Time (Jose Ortiz, Jose D’Angelo), 12-1
6 Domestic Product (Tyler Gaffalione, Brad Cox), 8-1
7 Fierceness (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher), 3-5
8 Sea Streak (Luca Panici, Eddie Owens, Jr.), 20-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
