16-1 shot Fierceness wins Breeders’ Cup Juvenile for trainer Todd Pletcher

ARCADIA, California: Mike Repole has been down this path before. A promising colt of his wins the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, goes to the Kentucky Derby as the early favorite and then nothing.

Now, he’s pausing before getting consumed by Derby fever.

Fierceness won the $2 million Juvenile by 6 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on Friday, a race won by trainer Todd Pletcher and owner-breeder Repole last year with Forte.

“They will all tell you to start thinking about the Derby,” Repole said. “I’m not going to think about the Derby with this race.”

Forte came into the Kentucky Derby on a five-race winning streak and was the morning-line favorite only to be scratched hours beforehand because of a bruise in his right front foot. Repole’s Uncle Mo, the early Derby favorite in 2011, had to be scratched the day before the race because of a gastrointestinal infection.

“I might be skipping it,” Repole said of the 150th Derby next May.

Fierceness made quite the turnaround from a 20-length defeat in the Champagne Stakes nearly a month ago. He won his debut in the mud at Saratoga by 11 lengths before getting trounced.

“The Champagne was a head scratcher,” Pletcher said. “We had to go based on what we had been seeing from him all summer, before he was training for the Champagne and after the Champagne. Mike’s not afraid to take a shot. He said if you like the way he’s training, let’s take another shot.”

Pletcher earned his 15th Cup victory, while John Velazquez notched his 20th, second among jockeys on the career list.

Fierceness ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.90 and paid $35 to win at 16-1 odds.

“This one’s really special because 14 years ago the horse that won this race called Uncle Mo put the Repole Stable on the map. And Johnny