WOW, HOW GOOD IS THIS TWO-YEAR-OLD?



THIS TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT EARNED HIGHEST BEYER SPEED FIGURE THUS FAR THIS YEAR (2024) WITH A RATING OF 96.

YES, BEYER SPEED FIGURE OF 96 FOR FEROCIOUS.


WOW! -- IS THIS TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT FOR REAL?


Ferocious won a maiden special weight race at Saratoga (race 6) on Saturday August 3, 2024, while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 on his debut race.

Prior to Saturday August 3, 2024, Beyer Speed Figure calculators at Gulfstream Park gave Rated by Merit a whopping 92 rating, the highest rating by a 2-year-old at that time.

Rated by Merit won a maiden race by nearly 10 lengths on July 13, 2024, at Gulfstream Park, race 2.

But now Ferocious is the king of the Beyer Speed Figure thus far.

The other 2yo who earned sky high speed rating is Fierceness' little brother named Mentee whose Beyer Speed Figure is 88 for his five-furlong track record race win on Saturday June 15, 2024, at Belmont at the Big A, in which, he broke a 61-year track record held by an older horse.

So now we have three -- yes, THREE -- 2yos to look forward to in the coming stakes races.

The one race coming up is the Hopeful Stakes on September 2, 2024, where both trainers of Mentee and Ferocious seemed to suggest that they will run their 2yos in.

Stay tuned!


Ferocious (a naming to intimidate Fierceness little brother Mentee):

WOW! -- IS THIS TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT FOR REAL?

In a field of nine, Ferocious was 7/2 among three other well-bred 2yos when the gate was in the loading process, and a third well-bred 2yo was 9/2 with the next highest odds are two 2yos with 14-1, and the last two are 25-1 and 33-1.

But when the gate opened, late money made Ferocious as the 3-1 post time favorite with the odds on the other three contenders ticked up slightly.

Needless to say, Ferocious was highly regarded well before his debut race on Saturday August 3, 2024.

But because the field was full of well-bred, high price 2yos, Ferocious' odd was lingering among the other three contenders at 7/2 all session long, and only late money that sent Ferocious into favoritism of 3-1.

Ferocious is a son of Flatter overcame a poor start to run away in a six-furlong race loaded with other well-bred runners and win by 7 3/4 lengths.

Under a confident ride from Javier Castellano, he stopped the timer at 1:09.65 on a muddy, sealed track.

He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96 from Daily Racing Form, highest for a 2-year-old this year (2024) thus far.

Ferocious was a $1.3 million (2024) 2yo in training purchase by Delgado and Restrepo, the same connection who bought Mage for $290,000 as a 2-year-old in training in 2022 and Mage went on to win last year’s Kentucky Derby.

“He’s a real nice horse. Everything he’s done is so easy,” Delgado said.

“First time at Saratoga. Everybody brings their best horses over.”

The awkward start and the ground it cost might have doomed a lesser first-time starter. Ferocious recovered immediately.

“He’s so agile that he put him in position right away,” Delgado said.

“I don’t think you could ask for a better debut, to be honest.”

The youngster continued to be unflappable once he arrived at Gulfstream Park [after the sale], the Delgados’ home base.

“Since the horse has been in the barn, he’s very nice to be around,” Delgado said.

“He’s very chill. Anybody could ride him.”

What is next for Ferocious?

Delgado called the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 2 a possibility.

“At this point, it’s all about him.”

He dared to think as far ahead as next year’s Kentucky Derby.

“We wake up every day at 4 o’clock in the morning,” he said.

“If we are not Derby dreaming, then what are we doing here?”