He maintained that momentum with a victory by 4 1/2 lengths in the Fountain of Youth in March, then beat eventual Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who also ran in the Fountain of Youth, by a length in the Florida Derby.įorte was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but was scratched the morning of the race with a minor foot bruise, to the eternal frustration of co-owner Mike Repole, who was on hand for the pre-race examination by a state veterinarian. If we were going to try an equipment change, we felt like the Jim Dandy would be the race to do it in and not wait until the Travers if we felt we needed to make a change.”įorte rolled into 2023 on the heels of a championship season. “Irad felt like he was a little more focused on what he was asking him to do rather than what the horse next to him was doing. “We thought in his breeze last week, he was kind of more focused on what the horse next to him is doing rather than what he should be doing. He sort of did the same thing in the Belmont,” Pletcher said. “In the Florida Derby, he lost concentration a little bit around the far turn, and fortunately enough he was able to rally and get up in time.
Ridden by Ortiz, Forte trained in company with Emmanuel and displayed the level of focus on his assignment that Pletcher was looking for.
