Forte Is Front-Runner In “The Pressbox’s” First 2023 KY Derby Rankings

(Forte after winning the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland last November / Photos by Coady Photography)

Forte Tops “The Pressbox’s” First 2023 Kentucky Derby Rankings:

It has been awhile since we last witnessed the 2YO Champ and 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Forte on the racetrack in a serious role.

That was last November. That was in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. That was quite a memory.

After all, it ended up with pictures taken. Flowers draping. And, champagne bottles popping. It ended up with Forte — a brilliant son of Violence — capturing the world’s most important race for 2YOs. It ended up with Forte stamping his name as the top contender for the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

It was quite the memory, to be sure.

But in the world of Thoroughbred racing, memories are short. Especially when the races get longer.

Credentials, credits and compliments are often temporary. Especially when the world awaits a return to the races, and wonders if there is a return to glory.

Patience is a virtue for trainers, but not in ample supply when it comes to fans, critics and prognosticators. Especially when you just so happen to be an aspiring colt headed to the “Road to the Kentucky Derby.”

It is a path that is full of “what have you done for me lately” demands.

It is a journey that many are asked, but few are able to complete.

It is a trip worth taking, only if you have the horse that can make the trip.

Soon, it will be time for Forte — and all his connections — to resume that mission. For now, the racing world awaits. For now, the racing world awaits anxiously with great anticipation.

For now, Forte has earned No. 1. And, why not. In five lifetime starts, the colt has 4 wins. The colt is trained by one of the best in the business, and a Kentucky Derby winner two times over with the likes of Super Saver and Always Dreaming. And, Forte has a win in one of the biggest and most important races of his generation, already.

He deserves the top perch.

Until he races again.

Which should not be that long away. Since being returned to serious training in January, trainer Todd Pletcher has put the colt through two early morning works at the Palm Beach Downs training center in South Florida. Forte got a 3-furlong breeze on Jan. 21 and a half-mile work on Jan. 28. More to come, to be sure. The expected “opening” appears to be the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on March 4. That will give the connections two full months of final tuneups and checkups before the first Saturday in May.

We will be watching. As the rest of the racing world, will be, too.

We will be back every week to update our rankings and give a little “news” about those that are making their way towards Louisville.

If you want, give us your top picks. We will add them to our watch list.

See you next week.