Road to Ky. Derby: After his break, all is well with Forte
Delray Beach, Fla.
Todd Pletcher appears to have Forte exactly where he wants him as the 2-year-old champion of 2022 makes his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
The Hall of Fame trainer tends to choose his words carefully. But he fairly gushed about Forte, the 7-5 favorite for the 1 1/16-mile contest, when he said, “I think he’s training better now than he has at any stage of his career. He’s made good physical progress. He’s gained some weight. He’s broadened out a little bit. He’s always mentally been a really straightforward, professional horse.”
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Forte has not missed a beat in working every week at Palm Beach Downs since Jan. 21, totaling six drills in all. The key move occurred Feb. 18, when Pletcher asked for speed and saw what he wanted. The dark bay son of Violence by the Blame mare Queen Caroline fired a bullet by traveling five furlongs in 1:01.41, swiftest of 10 at the distance.
With five starts at 2, Forte has a much stronger foundation than either of Pletcher’s two Derby winners, Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017. Super Saver made four starts at 2 but faced Grade 1 competition only once as a juvenile when he ran fourth in the Champagne. Always Dreaming produced only two starts at 2. He was not sent into deep Grade 1 waters until his comfortable victory in the Florida Derby, Gulfstream Park’s last major prep before the Kentucky Derby.
Forte towers above both of them in his preparation to date. He made a winning debut on May 27 at Belmont Park after Super Saver, second Aug. 22, 2009, at Saratoga, and Always Dreaming, third July 1, 2016, at Belmont Park, fell short in their first starts. Most importantly, Forte rattled off three successive Grade 1 victories to close a rousing 2-year-old campaign, sweeping the Hopeful at Saratoga and then at Keeneland the Breeders’ Futurity and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Pletcher still can recall Forte arrived at Palm Beach Downs last March 25. It can be argued that virtually everything has gone his way since.
“The reason he came in early is he showed talent and precocity at Ocala Stud. And then once he arrived, everything set up pretty easily for him,” the trainer said. “He got ready early, so we kind of took it as it developed.”
It is not just the number of races that encourages Pletcher but the way they unfolded for a youngster who does his best running late. “What’s good about the foundation he has is the style in which he won those races,” he said.
He was particularly impressed by the two races at Keeneland. He easily handled 1 1/16 miles on each occasion, suggesting he can handle classic distances.
“But also it was the way he did it, covered up, taking kickback, a lot of seasoning and experience that I think can sometimes go unappreciated in the Derby,” Pletcher said.
As good as he feels about Forte at this stage, Pletcher knows each day on the road to Kentucky Derby 2023 can be filled with peril. So does Mike Repole, who co-owns Forte with Vinnie Viola of St. Elias Stable.
Pletcher trained and Repole-owned Uncle Mo, a spectacular colt who rolled in all three of his starts to emerge as 2-year-old champion in 2010. Uncle Mo was the early Kentucky Derby favorite as Forte has been with Arabian Knight this year.
“I’ve been here before. I didn’t think I’d ever be here again,” said Repole, 54. “Eleven years later, it’s a different kind of déjà vu. But I think I come into this with the same level of excitement and maybe a bit less anxiety, because I’ve been in the game 11 more years, and I’ve been so blessed.”
The self-made billionaire seemed cursed, though, when Uncle Mo had to be scratched the day before the 2011 Kentucky Derby because of a rare liver disorder.
“I had to scratch the Derby favorite, probably the toughest thing I had to do in my racing career,” Repole said. “If I can survive that, I think I can survive anything in this game.”