Report: Fierceness is out of next weekend’s Belmont Stakes

Eclipse Award winner Fierceness, who finished 15th as the 3-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, has been ruled out of next weekend’s Belmont Stakes, according to a Daily Racing Form report.

Trainer Todd Pletcher told DRF’s David Grening the 2023 champion juvenile male “needs more time” to recover from his effort at Churchill Downs on May 4. A scheduled breeze Saturday was postponed until next week.

Pletcher told DRF on Thursday afternoon that the 3-year-old City of Light colt owned by Mike Repole would be re-aimed to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Stakes on July 20 at Monmouth Park.

DRF said Pletcher would run Peter Pan (G3) winner Antiquarian, 2-for-2 allowance victor Mindframe and the maiden Protective in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont at Saratoga on June 8. Antiquarian is owned by Don Little’s Centennial Farms. Mindframe belongs to Repole and Vinnie Viola’s St. Elias Stable. Protective is owned by Repole.

Pletcher and Repole have had a star-crossed history recently with Eclipse Award winners. Forte, also co-owned with Viola, missed last year’s Kentucky Derby because of a hoof injury that forced him to be scratched on race day. He did come back to finish second to eventual 3-year-old male champion Arcangelo in the Belmont.

The draw for the last race in the 2024 Triple Crown series will be Monday at 5 p.m. EDT. The race has been cut from 1 1/2 to 1 1/4 miles this year to accommodate the track configuration at Saratoga. The classic will be run upstate until the grandstand at Belmont Park on Long Island, N.Y., is rebuilt and reopened as soon as 2026.