Kentucky Derby 2024: What Front-Running Fierceness Has To Do To Beat Sierra Leone

Fierceness is coming into the Kentucky Derby with a 110 Beyer speed figure and a dominant 13-and-a-half length win in the Florida Derby, which are the nominal reasons that the Kentucky-bred colt is the morning line favorite. He’s a homebred for charmingly outspoken owner Mike Repole. Like all Derby contenders, Fierceness has never run at a mile-and-a-quarter distance, much less in a Grade 1 contest at that length, nor, like all Derby contenders, has he run in a Grade 1 with the fanfare and chaos that a Kentucky Derby crowd...