Life revolves around the proper timing and timing was surely the key factor in the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2).
On a grand July 27 afternoon of racing at Saratoga Race Course, the pendulum swung back in the proper position for the 2023 2-year-old champion male, Fierceness.
Owner Mike Repole's homebred son of City of Light has been utterly baffling with a frustrating habit of alternating brilliant and weak performances.
On Saturday, after flopping and finishing 15th as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Fierceness was due for a gem and he surely lived up to those expectations in taking the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy by a length over Sierra Leone in a wild stretch drive.
"I feel so good for the horse," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "I feel he's been underappreciated at times and he's a super talented horse. He's had a couple of off days but when he shows up he's very, very good."
Running off a 12-week rest Saturday, the timing was indeed perfect for Repole's homebred Eclipse Award winner, but it could be problematic for a return start four weeks from now in the huge summer showdown for 3-year-olds, the Aug. 24 Travers Stakes (G1) at the Spa.
Pletcher said after the race that running back a month later in the Travers was not in the cards before the Jim Dandy. Earlier in the summer, when Repole discussed holding Fierceness out of the Belmont Stakes (G1) in favor of running in the July 20 Haskell Stakes (G1), he mentioned the timing between races and that Fierceness would not run in the Travers.
Those plans were changed to put stablemate Mindframe in the Haskell—where he was second—and run Fierceness in the Jim Dandy, where there's a shorter gap before the Travers.
"We came into this with the idea that he would probably not run back in the Travers. We'll let the dust settle and see what happens," Pletcher said. "It seems like he needs a little more time between races. We're not committed to anything."
Regardless of where he runs next, the Jim Dandy marked an improved effort for Fierceness while Sierra Leone, the $2.3 million yearling buy, continued his stretch of second- and third-place finishes in the major 3-year-old races.
For Fierceness, the win showed a new dimension as it marked his first hard-fought victory. His three previous wins had a margin of victory that ranged from a high of 13 1/2 lengths to a low of 6 1/4 lengths.
In the Jim Dandy, jockey John Velazquez kept Fierceness second behind the pacesetting longshot Pony Express after a half-mile in :47.44 before moving to the front at the top of the final turn with Batten Down in closest pursuit and the late-running Sierra Leone eventually moving out of last with his customary strong closing kick.
Already four wide entering the stretch, Fierceness, while clear, moved out a few paths, forcing Batten Down to shift inside and that pushed Sierra Leone to the rail.
In midstretch, as Batten Down weakened, it was the race everyone expected in the Kentucky Derby, where Fierceness and Sierra Leone were the two favorites. Though they were far apart, Fierceness led Sierra Leone by 2 1/2 lengths and while the margin shrank, Fierceness ($5.60) held on and crossed the wire in 1:49.15 as the 9-5 second choice.
"Super pleased," Pletcher said. "He kind of got the trip we were hoping for. We knew what our strategy was, the thing is you don't know what everyone else is going to do. It looked like there were a couple of other horses with potential speed, so we had to break, get to the first turn in good position and get in a good rhythm, and that is what we were able to do."
Sierra Leone, owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor, Westerberg, and Rocket Ship Racing, was last in the field of six after six furlongs in 1:11.27 before he entered contention along the inside.
Bought at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, the seven-figure buy added the Jim Dandy runner-up finish to a third in the Belmont Stakes and a runner-up finish by a nose in the Kentucky Derby that followed wins in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and Risen Star Stakes (G2).
"I thought he ran great. I don't have any excuses," trainer Chad Brown said. "The track was playing very fair for his running style. Fierceness came back into form and ran a terrific race. I thought he had every chance turning for home to get him. Yes, we found ourselves on the inside of him, but Fierceness really found more today and ran a great race. I'm happy with my horse's performance. Yes, it's a race he came up just short again, but he did fire and it looked like he galloped out well."
Brown said the timing of the Travers should be fine for the son of Gun Runner .
"I'm looking forward to getting him back out to a mile and a quarter in the Travers, if he's healthy," Brown said.
It was 5 3/4 lengths back to Juddmonte's Ohio Derby (G3) winner Batten Down (Tapit ) in third.
Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Seize the Grey failed to flash his typical early speed and finished fourth.
Fierceness is the third of six foals from the Stay Thirsty mare Nonna Bella and the first to race. His 2-year-old full brother Mentee won at first asking. She also has a yearling Caravaggio filly and a 2024 Uncle Mo colt.
It was the fourth win in seven starts for Fierceness, who has earned $1,978,850.
What a race by FIERCENESS, the son of @LanesEndFarms stallion City of Light!
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) July 27, 2024
He pulled away down the stretch to win the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes pres. by @MoheganSun with a perfect ride by @ljlmvel for @RepoleStable! pic.twitter.com/kD83hEW78M
