Take a look at Fierceness’ past performances, jockey, trainer, early BUSR odds and full analysis heading into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Fierceness has been down this road before and seems to enjoy Southern California. He won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) in 2023 at Santa Anita, finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year at Del Mar, and won the Pacific Classic (G1), also at Del Mar, on Aug. 30.
On Nov. 1 back at his favorite track Del Mar, Fierceness has a chance to avenge his Classic defeat to Sierra Leone in what is shaping up as one of the best fields in the history of the 1 ¼-mile race that usually decides Horse of the Year.
Some background:
As a 2-year-old in 2023, Fierceness was sent West by trainer Todd Pletcher for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and blew away the field by 6 ¼ lengths to clinch Eclipse Award as 2-year-old male champion.
A year later, at the end of a 3-year-old campaign that had its ups and downs – edging Thorpedo Anna in the Travers months after running 15th in the Kentucky Derby (G1) as the favorite -- he showed up at Del Mar and ran a strong race but was beaten by Sierra Leone in the Classic.
At the end of the summer, Pletcher wanted to test out his 4-year-old star in the Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar. Good call. Fierceness, under jockey John Velazquez, came through with a 2 ½ length victory over Preakness Stakes (G1) and Haskell Stakes (G1) winner Journalism.
And now he’s ready for a return trip and Pletcher is feeling good about his chances with Fierceness (he has three other Classic contenders in Mindframe, Antiquarian and Locked).
Fierceness worked (5 furlongs in 1:00.56) in company with Antiquarian on Oct. 17 over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track.
“We wanted to match (Fierceness) up with a little stronger mate and make sure we got a good solid work,” Pletcher told drf.com. “With all four horses, today was the sternest work we were going to look for. They’re going to ship (Oct. 26), we won’t look to do quite as much next week.”
Fierceness has become more predictable over the past year with four wins and a pair of seconds from seven races. He’s versatile as he can sit off the pace or stalk the leaders. If he takes to the Del Mar surface like he did in the Pacific Classic, he’ll be right there at the finish.
Contender Information Card
Notes: Pletcher ranks third among leading Breeders’ Cup trainers with $29 million in earnings; he has 15 Breeders’ Cup wins, including a Classic win with Vino Rosso in 2019 ... Velazquez leads all jockeys in Breeders’ Cup earnings with $39.3 million, most mounts with 225, and his 21 victories, including the 2020 Classic aboard Authentic, are second to Mike Smith).
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