Conditioner Bill Mott hopes to use South Florida as his springboard to the GI Kentucky Oaks May 3, saying, “I've gone back and forth just deciding should I have two races or one [for Just F YI]. If I put two races in here, they're going to have to be a month apart. The clock starts ticking and before you know it, these races are right on top of you.”

Trainer Danny Gargan also sees the upcoming Florida race as a starting point for bigger things in May, “I just don't want [Dornoch] to go too forward. Hopefully he doesn't have to run a crazy, big, fast number or anything like that too soon. We just want to keep him maintained in what he's doing and hopefully he can be sound and be there on the first Saturday in May. Don't get me wrong, we'd like to win the Fountain of Youth but it's really not the goal.”

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Locked, who is the 10-1 favorite beyond the “all others” option in the latest round of the Derby Future Wager, was originally scheduled to make his debut in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. but Pletcher withdrew him from the race after he spiked a temperature and missed a work. Pletcher had Locked back on the work tab Friday morning and said he was pleased with the move.

Locked won last year's GI Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland before finishing third in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Fierceness, last year's champion 2-year-old male, kicked off his 2024 campaign with a lackluster third-place finish in the Holy Bull S. in which he was beaten 3 1/2 lengths. Afterward, Pletcher said his next race was up in the air, but confirmed Friday that he will go next in the Florida Derby. Fierceness will have his first work since the Holy Bull next week.

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“Last week was the work we wanted to make sure that we were on target,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We got a good strong work into him. We got a good work today, but after last week, we weren't looking for him to do too much. We're right on schedule and think we are where we want to be.”

The 2022 2-year-old champion is the 7-5 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/16-mile stakes for sophomores, which will headline a program with nine stakes, including eight graded stakes, worth $1.85 Million in purses.

“He seems to be thriving right now,” Pletcher continued before Forte drew the No. 4 post position Saturday afternoon. “I hope he can continue on that trajectory. We're super pleased with the way he's coming into the race.”

“With that type of seasoning, I'm very comfortable with two races leading up, hopefully, to the Derby,” Pletcher said. “We've approached it from various angles and felt like this was the right path for him. So far everything has been going to plan. Hopefully, it continues to do that.”

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