Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's reigning champion 2-year-old male Forte was awarded a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure for his gutsy nose victory in Saturday's $500,000 Jim Dandy (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Forte notched the win after stalking along the rail behind the pace set by Saudi Crown and angling around that foe into the turn to make his bid for the lead under regular pilot Irad Ortiz Jr. He brushed with Grade 1 winner Angel of Empire to his outside and needed to squeeze his way through as Saudi Crown drifted out, but found enough late to get his nose down first in a final time of 1:49.61.
“There was a lot going on and he was boxed in there for a little while and pushed his way through,” said Pletcher, who won a record-extending seventh Jim Dandy. “The horse on the lead drifted all the way from the rail to the six or seven path and was carrying everyone out with him. They came back together right at the end and fortunately he [Forte] was able to surge and get his head in front.”
Pletcher said despite a hard stretch battle, Forte emerged from the effort in good order.
“He came back very well and his energy level is good,” said Pletcher. “He had a well-deserved nap this morning, and I liked the way he looked last night after the race and this morning.”
Pletcher noted that a key takeaway from the effort was Forte's ability to hold position in the final turn, something he struggled with when winning the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park and when finishing a rallying second in the Belmont Stakes (G1).
“The one thing that seemed to help him was that he maintained his position in the far turn, which was one of the things that we didn't like about the Florida Derby and the Belmont,” said Pletcher, who opted to add blinkers to the Violence colt for the first time in the afternoon in the Jim Dandy. “He had kind of put himself at a disadvantage in the far turn of those races, where in this case he held his ground. I think the blinkers helped to keep him more focused.”
Forte burst onto the scene last year with a strong three-length victory in the Spa's Hopeful (G1), and followed with additional Grade 1 coups when stretching out to two turns at Keeneland in the Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Forte has continued to excel around two turns as a sophomore, adding to his resume with wins in Gulfstream Park's Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby this spring ahead of his game runner-up effort in the Belmont.
Forte has flashed his talents both at sprint and route distances, and is just the second Hopeful winner in the past 10 years to have won around two turns. He is the only horse in that time frame to have won at distances beyond one-mile. The last Hopeful winner to have won beyond one-mile was the Pletcher-trained Shanghai Bobby, who, like Forte, won the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2012.
Pletcher said Forte's success in stretching out beyond the recent trend for Hopeful winners proves his natural ability.
“I think it speaks of his quality that he was able to accomplish what he did early on,” said Pletcher. “He broke his maiden sprinting and came back and was able to win the Hopeful, but we always thought he was a horse looking for two turns. He proved that in the Breeders' Futurity and Breeders' Cup, and subsequently this year.”
Forte will face added ground again in his next likely start as Pletcher points the dark bay colt to the $1.25-million Travers (G1) going 1 1/4 miles on August 26 at the Spa. Pletcher is in search of his third win in the prestigious test for sophomores and successfully pulled off the Jim Dandy/Travers double with both of his Travers champions: Flower Alley in 2005 and Stay Thirsty in 2011.
“It's exciting and we've been fortunate that both our Travers winners came out of the Jim Dandy,” Pletcher said. “We'd love to do it again.”
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