ARCADIA, Calif. — Brilliant on debut, brutal in the Champagne, Fierceness was baffling for handicappers coming into Friday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Even his connections - owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher - weren’t sure what to expect. “Todd and I, all we kept saying was if he’s sixth [beaten] 12 or first by five we wouldn’t be surprised,” Repole said. “We’re not surprised, but we’re pretty happy right now.” :: Get Breeders' Cup Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team when you purchase a BC VIP Package! A beaming Repole spoke shortly after Fierceness, sent off at 16-1, blew away a solid field in the Juvenile, taking the lead outside the quarter pole and drawing off to an emphatic 6 1/4-length victory in the Juvenile at Santa Anita, earning an 105 Beyer Speed Figure. In Fierceness’s wake were Grade 1 winners Muth (2nd), Locked (3rd), Timberlake (4th), and Prince of Monaco (5th). General Partner, Cuban Thunder, Wine Me Up, and Noted completed the order of finish. The Wine Steward and Ecoro Neo scratched. The win gave Repole and Pletcher back-to-back wins in the Juvenile. They won it last year with Forte, who was crowned 2-year-old champion as have 31 of the previous 39 Juvenile winners. Fierceness was ridden to victory by John Velazquez, who in 2010 won the Juvenile aboard Uncle Mo for Repole and Pletcher. “To win that race again with Johnny, that was really, really special,” Repole, who also bred Fierceness, said. Fierceness appeared to stamp himself as something special when he won his debut on Aug. 25 at Saratoga by 11 1/4 lengths. Sent of the 1-2 favorite in the Grade 1 Champagne at Aqueduct, Fierceness finished seventh, 20 1/4 lengths behind Timberlake. Pletcher could not find any legitimate excuse for the performance. Pletcher took the horse to Keeneland where he had all of his potential Breeders’ Cup starters based in October, to evaluate how he trained. “The colt trained awesome all summer, he was monstrous in his debut, trained great leading into the Champagne,” Pletcher said. “We said let’s see how he trains. He’s got to sell us on the idea of running and he did.” Velazquez said he worked the colt one time at Keeneland and was impressed with what he felt. “The gallop-out was really special, I said wait, whose this horse?” Velazquez said. In the Juvenile, Fierceness broke alertly and raced within a half-length of General Partner, under Manny Franco, through a quarter in 23.25 seconds, a half-mile in 47.02 second and six furlongs 1:10.86. Fierceness got a 105 Beyer Speed Figure. Fierceness took over from General Partner at the head of the lane, but Muth, under Juan Hernandez, loomed a menacing presence to the outside. :: Breeders' Cup Shop: DRF Past Performances available now Straightening away in the stretch, Velazquez asked his horse to run and he left Muth pretty steadily. Velazquez said approaching the half-mile pole, he saw Franco on General Partner still had a pretty good hold of his horse. “I said let me just put a little bit of pressure on him,” Velazquez said. “When I did, my horse kind of jumped into the bridle a little sooner than I wanted to but when I asked him to run he was there for me very nicely.” Fierceness, a son of City of Light owned and bred by Repole, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.90 - 2.68 seconds faster than Just F Y I’s final time for winning the Juvenile Fillies - and returned $35 to win. “I’m going to say that came up a pretty fast race, pretty impressive time,” said Pletcher, who won the Juvenile for a fourth time. Juan Hernandez, the rider of Muth, said he liked the trip he was getting, but was no match for Fierceness while just holding off Locked by a half-length for second. “I was thinking I was the winner at the three-eighths, when I started to make my horse run, I kind of got a little close to [Fierceness] but the winner took off and was the better horse,” Hernandez said. “My horse ran really good, we just got beat by a better horse today.” Pletcher trained third-place finisher Locked, who went off the 2-1 favorite, and last-place finisher Noted. Locked, Pletcher said, “was pretty far back and climbing a bit from the kickback. It looked like once he got clear and was closing really well and almost got up for second.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.