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Last Chance at the Big Dance: Hades Can Punch Kentucky Derby Ticket in Lexington

Saturday's GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland, the final stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, offers a path to Churchill Downs for the first Saturday in May for D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran's Hades (Awesome Slew).

Currently on the outside looking in, Hades sits in 24th place on the leaderboard with 30 points. The GI Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters. The Lexington offers 42 points on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale.

With a victory, Hades would be in the top 20. A runner-up finish would put him on the bubble.

Hades upset potential Kentucky Derby favorite and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) (third) and next-out GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Domestic Product (Practical Joke) (second) with a game victory in the GIII Holy Bull S. Feb. 3. Hades suffered his first career defeat finishing a well-beaten fifth behind Fierceness after getting bumped at the start in the GI Curlin Florida Derby Mar. 30.

“We need the points. I'm not going to go there to be number 21 (on the also-eligible list),” trainer Joe Orseno said. “He didn't get a chance to run in the Florida Derby.”

Hades will race with first-time blinkers in the Lexington and will also receive a rider change to Jose Ortiz. Paco Lopez was aboard Hades in his first four career starts.

“I always thought he would be better with blinkers, but he kept winning and I couldn't make the change,” Orseno said. “He'll have blinkers here; little ones.”

Two other Lexington entrants could be on the Derby bubble with a victory: Encino (Nyquist) (20 points) and Liberal Arts (Arrogate) (19 points).

John Battaglia Memorial S. winner Encino, scratched from last weekend's GI Blue Grass S. in favor of this spot, tries dirt for the first time for trainer Brad Cox. Last year's GIII Street Sense S. winner Liberal Arts was an eventful sixth (disqualified and placed eighth for interference after getting rank on the first turn) in the GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 30.

The Lexington field of 10 also includes 5-2 morning-line favorite The Wine Steward (Vino Rosso), who makes his first start since finishing a very game second in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 7.

Saturday's 11-race card at Keeneland also prominently features the GI Jenny Wiley S. Gina Romantica (Into Mischief), a two-time Grade I winner over the lawn in Lexington, held her own against the boys finishing a respectable fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile last time Nov. 4. The 3-1 morning-line favorite is one of four entered for Chad Brown, who has won five of the past six runnings of the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares and has six Jenny Wiley victories overall.

Brown will also saddle last term's GI Matriarch S. heroine Surge Capacity (Flintshire {GB}), MGSW Fluffy Socks (Slumber {GB}) and longshot Beaute Cachee (Fr) (Literato {Fr}). “With a lot of my good grass fillies, I like to target this and I like the mile and a sixteenth to start,” Brown said.

The field of 10 also includes: Didia (Arg) (Orpen), a game winner of the GII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S. at Gulfstream Jan. 27; and the Charlie Appleby-trained English Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who captured the G2 Balanchine S. at Meydan last time Feb. 23.

Wet Paint (Blame), three-for-three against stakes company at Oaklawn last season, will face off against California invader Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) in the GI Apple Blossom H. in Hot Springs. Wet Paint, just up in time in last summer's GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, makes her first start since finishing eighth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Nov. 4. Adare Manor, winner of last summer's GI Clement L. Hirsch S. at Del Mar, crossed the line one spot better in seventh at the Championships and kicked off her 5-year-old campaign for Bob Baffert with a runner-up finish as the favorite in the GI Beholder Mile S. at Santa Anita Mar. 9.

Saturday's graded action is rounded out by the GIII Count Fleet H. at Oaklawn and GIII Giant's Causeway S. at Keeneland.

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Holy Bull Winner Hades To Wait For Florida Derby

All continues to go smoothly for D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran's undefeated GIII Holy Bull S. winner Hades (Awesome Slew), a trend trainer Joe Orseno hopes to see continue as the colt sits out Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park to await the GI Florida Derby.

Since his two length score in the first leg of the Florida series, Hades has worked twice at four furlongs and at a mile, which prompted the connections to give the second leg some consideration before deciding to pass.

“He's doing great, that's the problem. It's hard to sit still,” Orseno said. “But in the grand scheme of things and what we're trying to accomplish, it's probably the right thing to do. I've seen too many people try to run in all three races here and then you have nothing left. We're just trying to do right by the horse.”

Potentially, Hades could be Orseno's second GI Kentucky Derby starter. He entered Thunder Blitz in 2001, who was fourth behind Monarchos.

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Connections Eye Florida Route to Derby for Holy Bull Winner Hades

D. J. Stable LLC and Robert Cotran's Hades (Awesome Slew), upset winner of Saturday's GIII Holy Bull S. over juvenile champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), may be pointed to either the Mar. 2 GII Fountain of Youth S. or the Mar. 30 GI Curlin Florida Derby, hinted trainer Joe Orseno to the Gulfstream Park notes team Thursday.

“We're obviously working backwards from the first Saturday in May,” said Orseno. “We'll do what's best for the horses. I don't think both races are in the plans. If I had to guess today, I'd say the latter one.”

Orseno said the undefeated Hades came out of his Holy Bull win in good shape.

“My both feet are on the ground and everything's fine,” said Orseno. “The horse is doing great. He came out of it really well in his training. He's been back training two days. He's galloping great.”

Orseno continued: “Yesterday, he was more aggressive. It was windy and it was his first day back on the track. Today, he was more settled.”

The trainer also detailed the decision that led to gelding the bay, who is now unbeaten in three starts. Orseno had spotted Hades at the 2023 OBS April Sale, where he worked two furlongs in :21 1/5. D. J. Stable signed the ticket and Orseno brought his longtime client Cotran in to team up on the Florida-bred colt.

“When I bought him out of the sale, I gave him a week and brought him down here. He just wasn't training like I thought he should have been,” Orseno said. “He was stud-ish, really stud-ish. He was a little weak behind. He didn't seem to be himself. I said, 'This isn't the horse I bought,' because we really loved him.”

Despite extra time turned out in Ocala, Hades showed no improvement.

“He was being real stud-ish, not going forward. I said, 'Just cut him and help him grow up a little bit.' That's what we did. We just gave him time and cut him. He's a son of Awesome Slew. Nobody was thinking 'stallion' at that point. Nobody was thinking anything. We bought a racehorse and we've got to get him to the races.”

The result is an undefeated prospect who has earned 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

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Ocala Stud Well Represented in Holy Bull and Beyond

Ocala Stud celebrated a significant achievement when Fierceness (City of Light) became the second GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner in a row to graduate from their breaking and training program, following hot on the heels of fellow Repole Stable standout Forte (Violence) in 2022.

Newly crowned as champion 2-year-old male, Fierceness makes his much-anticipated sophomore debut on Saturday in the GIII Holy Bull S., but he won't be the only starter representing Ocala Stud. Hades (Awesome Slew), who is two for two for trainer Joe Orseno, was bred and raised at Ocala Stud before he sold to D.J. Stable as a 2-year-old.

Like everyone tuning into the early Kentucky Derby preps this weekend, Ocala Stud's David O'Farrell is familiar with the anticipation that always comes around this time of year.

“It's the most exciting time of the year in this business once you get to the Derby prep races and see the potential of these young 3-year-olds,” he said.

To have two promising graduates in the same starting gate for the first leg of Florida's road to the Kentucky Derby makes this season all the more sweet.

Ocala Stud and the O'Farrells have been affiliated with Hades's female family for several generations, going back to his third dam Grade I winner and producer Pretty Discreet (Private Account). His dam The Shady Lady (Quality Road) never made it to the racetrack, but all four of her foals of racing age are winners including Devious Dame (Girvin), who sold as a 2-year-old for $240,000 and went on to win the 2022 Astoria S.

Hades is from the second crop of Ocala Stud's own Awesome Slew, a multiple graded stakes winner by Awesome Again who was the leading first-crop sire in Florida in 2022.

O'Farrell said that Hades was as straightforward as they come from the time he was foaled, on through the breaking and training process and at the sales, where he brought $130,000 at the OBS April Sale.

“He never had any issues and was good-minded,” he explained. “You never really know what the level of talent is until you get close to the sale, but he performed beautifully at OBS, sold for a nice price, went to a good home and the rest is history.”

Breaking his maiden on debut for D.J. Stable and Robert Cotran, Hades went on to win a state-bred, seven-furlong contest at Gulfstream on Dec. 31 by eight lengths. The gelding earned a 84 Beyer Speed Figure for that effort.

Hades has a full-brother pointing for the upcoming OBS April Sale as well as a yearling half-sister by Girvin. The Shady Lady is in foal to Ocala Stud sire Win Win Win this year.

With Paco Lopez aboard, Hades drew the first position for Saturday's Holy Bull, but of course he'll have to contend with overwhelming favorite Fierceness, who has been training at Palm Beach Downs since his Breeders' Cup victory.

A second-generation homebred for Repole Stable, Fierceness was among just the second crop of horses that Ocala Stud has trained for Repole.

“He was another one that kind of quietly went through the program,” O'Farrell explained. “He was medium sized and never grabbed your attention, but also didn't do anything to get your attention in a bad way. Sometimes those are the best ones. By the last two or three weeks when we started breezing him a little bit, he was doing extremely well.”

Ocala Stud's list of 2023 graduates for Repole Stable also includes 'TDN Rising Star' Agate Road (Quality Road). Owned in partnership with St. Elias Stable, the winner of the 2023 GII Pilgrim S. runs just before the Holy Bull on Saturday in the GIII Kitten's Joy S.

Hades gets a second straight win for trainer Joe Orseno and owners D.J. Stable and Robert Cotran | Ryan Thompson

“When you train horses for Repole, you're really spoiled because there are so many nice horses,” said O'Farrell. “Agate Road is no different. He went out in a Repole set and was as nice as anyone in the set.”

O'Farrell said that this winter they have 12 Repole horses at their farm's training center.

Also among the year's Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Ocala Stud is represented by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm's Locked (Gun Runner), the winner of the 2023 GI Breeders' Futurity who finished third in the Juvenile, as well as Born Noble (Constitution), who had an eye-popping maiden win for St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds on Dec. 30 and returns to the starting gate on Saturday at Gulfstream.

It's a loaded group of promising Ocala Stud graduates and odds are good that plenty more accolades are in the farm's future as the year continues.

“It really comes down to the owners sending us nice horses,” O'Farrell explained when asked about Ocala Stud's recent accomplishments. “We have a great group of clients and it starts with the horse. We're blessed to be able to train so many nice, well-bred horses. We have an unbelievable staff that has been with us for a long time. Our trainer George Burrows has been with us over 40 years. Many of his assistants and foremen and exercise riders have been with us for over 30 years.”

It's the best–and busiest–time of the year at Ocala Stud as foals are hitting the ground, the breeding shed doors are about to open and the countdown is on for the first 2-year-old sale in just a few weeks. Plus, the farm's stallion roster features three young sires who will be represented by their first foals this year.

“We have a couple of Roadsters on the ground and they're really nice, so we're off to a very good start there,” O'Farrell reported. “We're waiting on the first Colonel Liam in the next 10 days or so and Gretzky the Great has one coming in the next few days. We're excited about the first crops from them this year. It's a lot to juggle this time of year, but it's a lot of fun.”

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