Hades | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gargan Pleased with Dornoch Following Fountain of Youth Win

Dornoch (Good Magic) pleased Danny Gargan with his victory in Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. and the trainer said a decision on the colt's next start would likely be made by the end of the week.

“He's great. He looked good this morning. He cooled out nice. We're happy with him. He ate up well,” Gargan said. “We're pleased with him.”

Following Dornoch's professional performance as the 1-5 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, Gargan said the 3-year-old full-brother to 2023 GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage would likely return in either the Mar. 30 GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream or the Apr. 6 GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland.

Gargan said a spate of scratches from the Fountain of Youth caused him to call an audible Saturday.

“We wanted to sit behind horses. The scratches hurt. We just decided to go ahead and take control of the race. He did it pretty handily,” Gargan said. “He didn't have to run too hard, so we'll have plenty of horse. We should be able to come back quick and be fine. We're just got to keep moving and stay lucky.”

Vicente Stella Stables LLC's Le Dom Bro (Mucho Macho Man), who made an inside challenge at the top of the stretch before settling for second at 27-1, also exited the Fountain of Youth in good order and is likely to make his next start in the Florida Derby.

“I'd say it's 90% for the Florida Derby,” said Vicente Stella.

Also on track for the Florida Derby is Hades (Awesome Slew). The undefeated winner of the GIII Holy Bull S. worked four furlongs Sunday morning at Gulfstream in :48.64 (15/52).

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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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Champion 2-Year-Old Fierceness Leads 346 Triple Crown Nominations

2023's Eclipse champion 2-year-old Fierceness (City of Light) leads a list of 346 nominations to the 2024 Triple Crown according to a Tuesday release by the Kentucky Racing Communications Office. Last weekend's GIII Holy Bull S. third is one of 20 nominees owned by Repole Stables and one of 54 trained by Todd Pletcher to lead their respective categories. A further 18 horses were nominated by Bob Baffert and Brad Cox respectively. While the total number of nominees is down from last year, there are a record 47 potential runners from Japan. Other notable nominees include: Nysos (Nyquist), Track Phantom (Quality Road), Hades (Awesome Slew), Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and Catching Freedom (Constitution). Four fillies, Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}), Gun Song (Gun Runner), Life Talk (Gun Runner) and Kopion (Omaha Beach), were also nominated.

3-year-olds can continued to be nominated to the Triple Crown via a $6,000 payment through April 1.

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