Repole Stables' Mindframe, Fierceness Work Toward Saratoga Grade 1s
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables' Mindframe, the last-out Grade 1 Stephen Foster-winner on June 28 at Churchill Downs, completed his first breeze back when covering a half-mile in 52.46 seconds on Friday, July 18, over the main track at Saratoga Race Course.Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 4-year-old Constitution dark bay currently leads the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Thoroughbred Poll following wins in the nine-furlong Stephen Foster and the seven-furlong G1 Churchill Downs on May 3. Mindframe is 3-for-3 this year, also capturing the G2 Gulfstream Park Mile in March, among his 7-5-2-0 lifetime record with over $1.8 million in earnings.'We were just looking to get an easy half in, he went by himself,' Pletcher said of Friday's work. 'He does whatever you ask him to do. He is cool that way. He goes easy if you want him to go easy, fast if you want him to go fast.'
On Aug. 2, Saratoga hosts the G1, $1 million Whitney, a nine-furlong main track test for older horses, offering a 'Win and You're In' berth to the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic in November at Del Mar. The question for Pletcher has been whether or not Mindframe could run there alongside Fierceness, who has been reported to be targeting the race for Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor, and Mrs. John Magnier.'I've got to gather up with the connections. We are still a couple weeks away, but he is a fit horse coming out of the Foster win. We don't have to do a lot with him if we did decide to run in the Whitney,' Pletcher said.On if he'd like running Mindframe and Fierceness against each other in the Whitney, Pletcher said, 'Ideally, no. We'd split them up, so if we decide to wait for the [G1] Jockey Club Gold Cup with him [Mindframe], that would be one way of splitting them up.'The G1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, a 10-furlong 'Win and You're In' event for the Breeders' Cup Classic, is run on Aug. 31 at the Spa.'Fierceness hasn't run since the Met Mile, so we have always been pointing him towards the Whitney,' Pletcher said.
Fierceness worked Friday over the main track, covering five furlongs in 1:01.70 in company with Dreamlike.'He worked terrific today. He is giving us every indication he is on target for it [the Whitney],' said Pletcher. 'I'd say if he stays that way, that would probably give us a good reason to wait a little longer on Mindframe and give him a little extra time off a huge effort shipping to Churchill.'
Fierceness, the multiple G1-winning 4-year-old City of Light colt and the 2023 Champion 2-Year-Old Male, last ran second in the one-mile G1 Metropolitan Handicap here after a track-record setting win in the 1 1/16-mile G2 Alysheba on May 2 at Churchill Downs.'I thought he worked terrific, like he always does, he finished up nicely and put in a huge gallop out, moving great, doing everything you'd like to see,' Pletcher said.Fierceness has earned in excess of $4.5 million through an 11-6-2-1 record, including a head score over subsequent Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna in the G1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers in August here.
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jul 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
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