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Originally Posted by Nitro

That’s funny because I love horses like Fierceness!
In fact, I’ve had a lot of success with potential gate-to-wire winners in the Derby. For me it all started going all the way back to Bold Forbes (who by the way beat the favorite, Honest Pleasure, and I don’t see an Honest Pleasure in this year’s Derby). Then a year later my all-time favorite, Seattle Slew does the same thing in stellar fashion even after going to its knees at the start. But even later, my biggest score in the Derby was cashing the Triple when War Emblem won in the same way after having cruised in the Illinois Derby with a 108 Beyer.

Yes, I agree you don’t know at this stage of its racing career how good it is, but you can say the same thing about every other 3 year old in the Derby. What you can assuredly say is that relative to the other horses in the field Fierceness stands out based upon its PROVEN ability when making the basic performance comparisons.

Also, keep in mind that having successfully run any 1-1/8th mile race from an outside post at GP is not an easy task. So, my thinking is that if JRV can control the pace and repeat the running of the FL Derby then it’s “say goodbye” to the other runners.

Another notable thing to consider is that from all off the Derby prep races run this year, I found that Fierceness was the only horse that accelerated for not only the first ¼ mile, but to the ½ mile as well (in the FL Derby). This has some significance to any of the other entries that decide to try and keep pace. Will they have enough energy left to sustain themselves in a mile and a ¼ race?

Of course, nothing is a lock in horse racing, but I believe Fierceness has a real advantage in this year’s Derby.
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Encino gate to wire? Or maybe sitting 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and closing?