Pedigree Profile: Fierceness
The family of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner has seen Derby trail success before
The question about Fierceness going into Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile was whether his dazzling debut or his lackluster Champagne were more indicative of his true potential, and he answered that question pretty authoritatively - he’s the horse that romped by 11 1/4 lengths in a Saratoga maiden special weight. He pressed General Partner for the lead, took over entering the turn, and widened his advantage over runner-up Muth to prevail by 6 1/4 lengths on the wire. Now the question becomes: can this horse give his owner a Kentucky Derby winner?
As with any Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, the sights of Fierceness’ connections will now be set on the Triple Crown trail, and there’s plenty of reason to think this Mike Repole homebred has a chance to make some noise in his three-year-old season.
Fierceness is a son of City of Light, who came into his own as a late-developing three-year-old, debuting in July of his sophomore year and winning his first attempt against stakes company in the G1 Malibu going seven furlongs at the end of that season. He was a force to be reckoned with at four, winning the Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs before stretching out for the Oaklawn Handicap at a mile and an eighth, which he won over the horse that was to be that year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, Accelerate. Accelerate turned the tables in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita, where City of Light was beaten 5 1/2 lengths while finishing third in his only attempt at the classic distance. After a runner-up finish in the Forego, City of Light would win that year’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and finish his career with a 5 3/4 length win in the Pegasus World Cup. Overall, City of Light was a four-time G1 winner and never off the board in 11 starts.
As a sire, he’s gotten some talented runners, but Fierceness is his first G1 winner. While has has been the sire of many sprinter-miler types, his Mimi Kakushi was a winner of the UAE Oaks at 1 3/16 miles. Notably, Mimi Kakushi’s female side was not a massive stamina influence, with her dam being a stakes winner at six furlongs to a mile and seventy yards by Vicar who also produced two stakes-winning sprinters. though it still remains to be seen if City of Light can produce top-class winners at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles.
Unlike Mimi Kakushi, there’s a bit of stamina on the bottom of Fierceness’ pedigree, at least when looking at the sires involved, though there are still some questions about a mile and a quarter here. His dam, Nonna Bella, won her first two starts around one turn, but was a daughter of Travers Stakes winner Stay Thirsty. She was out of multiple graded stakes placed Nonna Mia, whose best races came sprinting but was a daughter of Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker. Nonna Mia was the dam of multiple stakes placed Nonna’s Boy, who picked up those two third-place finishes in three and four horse fields but was a winner at up to 1 1/16 miles by Distorted Humor. The year after producing Nonna’s Boy, Nonna Mia produced her best foal to date in Outwork, a son of Uncle Mo who won the G1 Wood Memorial but finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby in his final career start. As a sire, his offspring have been precocious but potentially a bit distance-limited - both his G1 winners Leave No Trace and Brightwork were winners of the Spinaway Stakes, but Leave No Trace didn’t run a step at three and it would appear that Brightwork is better around one turn, at least at this stage in her career, after back-to-back poor efforts going longer.
Nonna Mia was out of the multiple stakes winning sprinter Holy Bubbette, a daughter of Holy Bull who also produced multiple graded stakes winner Cairo Prince (who, as a son of Pioneerof the Nile, was a 3/4 sibling to Nonna Mia). Cairo Prince won the Nashua Stakes at two and the Holy Bull at three, but faded in the Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles in his final career start, so it’s uncertain whether he might been more effective at a mile to 1 1/16 miles. His My Boy Prince was third in this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, while Tony Ann was beaten less than four lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Though those recent top performers were on turf, he can certainly get a dirt horse - he’s the sire of G2 Prioress Stakes winner Royal Charlotte and G2 San Antonio Stakes winner Kiss Today Goodbye, who was most recently third (albeit beaten over 28 lengths) in the 13 furlong Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on the Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard. While that effort at 13 furlongs might be suspect, Kiss Today Goodbye has also placed in graded stakes at ten and twelve furlongs.
Overall, Fierceness certainly looks to be an exciting horse to follow on the Kentucky Derby trail. I can’t make any definitive judgments at this point in the horse’s career about the mile and a quarter distance, although I think there are reasons for some concern based on pedigree alone. He’s one I’ll be keeping an eye on to see how he finishes up in his Derby preps. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that ten furlongs is in his wheelhouse, as while his first and second dams themselves were better going short, they were by stallions who were G1 winners at the classic distance and even beyond.