In a race that lived as much as the hype, Fierceness , the reigning champion 2-year-old male of 2023, outlasted good 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna to win the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) Aug. 24 at Saratoga Race Course.
THE CHAMP IS BACK! Fierceness, son of @LanesEndFarms stallion Metropolis of Gentle, wins the G1 @DraftKings Travers Stakes, leaving little question that he’s again on high!
The legendary @ljlmvel was aboard for @PletcherRacing and @RepoleStable. pic.twitter.com/M8KY6h4sQr
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 24, 2024
Stalking the tempo outdoors underneath John Velazquez, Fierceness pounced leaving the second flip to take command from early chief Batten Down and pace-chasing basic winner Dornoch . As soon as within the stretch Fierceness needed to repel a number of grade 1-winning filly Thorpedo Anna, who discovered operating room and got here after the Eclipse Award winner. She doggedly pursued however in the end ran out of racetrack, ending a head again.
Favored Sierra Leone confirmed and Dornoch ran fourth.
A 3-year-old son of Metropolis of Gentle out of the Keep Thirsty mare Nonna Bella owned and bred by Mike Repole’s Repole Secure, Fierceness ran 1 1/4 miles on a quick monitor in 2:01.79. He paid $9.80 to win.
The Travers victory provides coach Todd Pletcher the 2 hundredth grade 1 win of his Corridor of Fame profession.
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Video: Draftkings Travers S. (G1)
