Forever Young caught the eye of U.S. Hall Of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher at Del Mar Monday morning, five days out from the anticipated clash between the Japanese hero, his own star galloper Fierceness, and European racing’s latest glamour colt, City Of Troy.
Pletcher was an observer as Forever Young walked out looking relaxed under Ryusei Sakai. The Yoshito Yahagi-trained three-year-old set off cantering a lap of the main track, returning solo down the straight at an easy pace.
“Forever Young is a high-quality horse, ran fantastic in the (Kentucky) Derby, looks like he got a good prep and we saw him on the track this morning, he looks well, so he’s certainly one to fear,” Pletcher told Idol Horse.
“I think it’s what the Breeders’ Cup was designed for, is to be an international event. We have 19 Japanese horses pre-entered and the usual Europeans, so it truly is an international event. I think it’s great for racing globally … it makes it tougher on us guys over here to win!
“We also have tremendous respect for City Of Troy, and Aidan (O’Brien), with his opinion of the horse, you have to respect that. At the same time, we have a lot of confidence in our horse’s ability. You know, this will be a different kind of race than City Of Troy has ever run in but he is a son of Justify and you have to respect him.”
Pletcher’s confidence in Fierceness is well-placed. The three-year-old, owned by billionaire businessman Mike Repole, will be a tough opponent for the international raiders: he is already a Breeders’ Cup winner thanks to a six and a quarter-length win in the Juvenile last year, and has stamped his authority this term with wins in the G1 Florida Derby, G2 Jim Dandy Stakes, and the G1 Travers Stakes, in which he defeated the top three-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna.
His only blip came when 15th in the G1 Kentucky Derby in May, in which Forever Young was an unlucky, and somewhat controversial third, beaten just a short-head after a bumping match in the straight.
“Fierceness didn’t jump well in the Derby and then we had to use him a bit to get to the position we wanted,” Pletcher said. “They went pretty fast, and he was wide, and the horses that were involved in the pace weren’t around at the end. Just nothing went according to plan from the start.”
The colt, head protruding from his box, took a lazy bite of hay as Pletcher spoke. Fierceness arrived at Del Mar from New York on Sunday and he too had a relaxed Monday morning gallop, “ears pricked, looking around, taking it all in,” at around the same time Forever Young was out on the track.
Pletcher has 14 Breeders’ Cup wins on his storied record, including victory in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Vino Rosso, another horse that carried the blue and orange silks of Repole Stable.
“This horse is very, very straightforward, almost lazy at times, but it’s really in his workouts that he shows his talent level,” Pletcher said. “He will occasionally get a little fired up in the paddock and aside from that he’s a very laidback, quiet horse.”
Pletcher’s big gun ticks the boxes for talent and professionalism, and the trainer is not concerned about the colt having never raced at Del Mar’s relatively tight oval before.
“I don’t see the track as being an issue,” he said. “It’s obviously an international field and the talented group of horses is the biggest challenge, insofar as he travelled here really well: he showed last year in the Breeders’ Cup that he travelled across country and won.
“He likes Santa Anita, which gives us some optimism that hopefully he’ll also take to Del Mar. He’s run well at Saratoga, he’s run well at Santa Anita, he’s run well at Gulfstream, so I don’t think he’s finicky about his surface. The main thing is hopefully working out a good trip and that everything goes smoothly.”
Pletcher will no doubt continue to keep one eye on the trackwork action as Forever Young and City Of Troy go through their paces in the coming days, but in Fierceness he has a horse ready to take on all-comers ∎
