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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“We are entering Hades in the Lexington and have Jose Ortiz in the irons,” Green texted. “Hades is doing great, is sound and ready to ship to KEE on Tuesday.”

Owned in partnership with Robert Cotran and trained by Joe Orseno, Hades won his first three trips to the post including a two-length defeat of Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in the Holy Bull, as Fierceness failed to fire at long odds-on. He was bumped at the start of the Florida Derby as a 17-5 chance and endured a wide trip before finishing 19 3/4 lengths adrift of the romping Fierceness.

“He got sawed off and never leveled off until he pulled himself back to last,” Green explained via text.

Hades has amassed 30 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, good for 18th in the standings prior to the running of Saturday's 100-point preps. The Lexington is the final Derby points race on a scale of 20-10-6-4-2.

Also headed to the Lexington is Encino (Nyquist), who was scratched from Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass S. The Godolphin homebred, last-start winner of the John Battaglia Memorial S. Mar. 2, had drawn widest in the field of 11 in the Blue Grass.

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A perfect three-for-three in his career, Hades was scheduled to breeze Saturday, but forecast heavy rains led trainer Joe Orseno to call an audible and work the gelding 24 hours earlier.

“He has exceeded my expectations,” Orseno said, “even with today's last breeze going into the Florida Derby. He did everything perfect. He just handles himself very professional. He gets things easily where other horses struggle.”

Eclipse Award-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light) will try to atone for his third-place effort in the Holy Bull when he lines up next weekend, and the Todd Pletcher trainee went four furlongs in :47.43 at Palm Beach Downs Friday morning. He galloped out an extra eighth of a mile in 1:00.63. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez was in the irons for the move.

“It went very well, he looked great,” Pletcher commented.

Trainer Gustavo Delgado took to X Friday afternoon to report that Victory Avenue (Arrogate), a big-figure runner-up on his lone racetrack appearance Jan. 27, would be passing the Florida Derby.

“For clarity, we have decided not to pursue a Florida Derby entry with Victory Avenue,” Delgado posted. “Being a very talented son of Arrogate, at this moment we feel that time and patience to let him grow up physically + mentally is the best plan. Plenty of goals for him to achieve down the line.”

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A Board of no fewer than 11 and no more than 15 Directors supervises the FTHA and each year, five positions are filled on a rotating basis. For 2024, Incumbent Owner/Directors Chester Bishop, Jonathan Green, and Teresa Palmer were re-elected.  Incumbent Trainer/Director Ron Spatz was re-elected, and new to the Board is Owner/Director Robert Cotran.

“I was honored to be elected to the Board. I am aware of some of the obstacles that racing is facing in the future,” said new member Robert Cotran. “My goal is to work with our horsemen's group in dealing with these obstacles–all for the betterment of racing–which is everyone's goal.”

Joe Orseno was elected unanimously for his third term as FTHA President. Jon Green was appointed as First Vice President and David Rousso as Second Vice President. The new board will take office effective immediately.

Owner/Directors include: Gerardo Amado, Chester Bishop, Thomas Cannell, Robert Cotran, Jonathan Green, Adam Lazarus, Teresa Palmer, David Rousso and Jeffrey Siskin. Trainer/Directors are: Patrick Biancone, Kathy Davey, David Fawkes, Joe Orseno, Terri Pompay and Ron Spatz.

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“It was what I call a 'Wow!' work,” trainer Joe Orseno said. “I put a horse in front of him to have a horse to run at a little bit. At the quarter-pole, I told both riders to ask their horses. If the other horse ran away from him, I needed to know that. The rider on the inside horse said when he asked, his horse responded and found another gear, and Hades ran by him so fast it's kind of ridiculous.”

Orseno added, “I've got him galloping out the mile in 1:42. Horses don't do that.”

Although the Mar. 2 GII Fountain of Youth was scratched down to just five horses when heavily favored Speak Easy (Constitution) unseated his rider in his pre-race warm-up, Orseno hasn't questioned his decision to bypass the final local prep for the Florida Derby with Hades.

“For me, my horse didn't have that look in his eye that he had until two days before the Fountain of Youth, when I could say, 'Wow: The way he feels now, maybe I should have been in there.' Never did I think that I did the wrong thing,” Orseno said. “He has a big future, so we're not looking at just the next two races, the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. We're looking down the road, too. You've got to pick and choose your spots.”

Hades is unbeaten in three starts. He debuted with a win at Gulfstream in early December and added an allowance victory in Hallandale at the end of the month. He defeated Domestic Product (Practical Joke) by two lengths in the Holy Bull and the form of that race was flattered when the runner-up returned to win the GIII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby Saturday.

“He didn't win by much, but he did get up to win, so I think that complimented us a little bit,” Orseno said of the Tampa Bay Derby finish.

Sunday's breeze was Hades' final serious preparation for the Florida Derby.

“Next week he's going to open gallop. He's not even going to breeze. And then he'll just have a little something the next week, so today was his major prep,” Orseno said.

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Open handicap purses will rise from $60,000 last season to $74,000; $6,250 claiming races with conditions will jump from $17,000 to $20,000; open allowances will be $10,000 higher than 2023 levels, ranging from $61,000 to $63,000; entry-level allowances for Florida-breds will increase from $43,000 to $48,000; maiden special weight races will increase by $10,000 to $60,000; maiden special weight races for Florida-breds will go up from $40,000 to $48,000; maiden races for $12,500 claimers will get a boost of $6,000 to $25,000; starter allowance purses will increase from $3,000 to $9,000 (from $25,000 to $49,000); and the purse for a $50,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds will jump by $9,000 to $44,000.

“With the increased purses, grass racing, and our workers compensation program, Gulfstream is now the summer place to be,” said Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (FTHA) President Joe Orseno. “We are able to offer better purses and we hope this will encourage trainers and owners to keep horses at Gulfstream Park through the non-championship meet. A big thank you to 1/ST management and the FTHA purse committee for negotiating this competitive purse structure.”

Gulfstream will race four days a week from April to June and three days a week from July to November with turf racing throughout the spring and summer.

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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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“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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“Traditionally, New York breeders have not had the opportunity to breed to a new stallion who was already on the upswing with proven runners on the ground, but that certainly should be changing in the future with the exceptional program New York has developed and actively improved,” said Bucchero Managing Partner Harlan Malter. “We have broken the mold a bit with Bucchero and we feel we are doing it again with our move to New York.” 

Bucchero has celebrated a breakout season in 2023. His second crop has produced two unrestricted juvenile stakes winners, taking his total to three overall, and he has been represented by nine stakes-placed horses from 84 starters. Bucchero is the sire of 52 individual winners, a percentage of 62% that is second-best among his peers with 50 or more runners and higher than the likes of Justify and Good Magic. His runners have finished in the top three in over 47% of their combined appearances. 

Bucchero is currently the second-leading sire of 2-year-olds by earnings outside the state of Kentucky ($856,604). In New York, his current 2-year-old progeny earnings would make him the #1 juvenile sire in the state and his total 2023 progeny earnings of $2,291,021 would make him the third-leading sire overall in New York behind only Central Banker and Tourist.

Led by Shards, who sold for $175,000 at the 2023 OBS March Sale, Bucchero has excelled in the 2-year-old market, with consistently quick under-tack previews that have translated to the sales ring. From a $5,000 stud fee, Bucchero averaged nearly 10 times his stud fee with a $48,595 average from 21 sold in 2022 and built upon that in 2023 with an average of $51,133 from 30 sold.

Bucchero has quickly become a “trainers'” stallion as many went right back to the well in the second crop after campaigning first-crop runners. Joe Orseno, the trainer of first-crop stakes winner Beauty of the Sea and second-crop stakes winner Mattingly (85 Beyer in his most recent stakes start) commented, “I have now trained eight of them and they do nothing but run. Mattingly is a perfect example, a stakes winner on synthetic, stakes placed short on the turf and seven furlongs on dirt and I am now pointing him to the $300K In Reality Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. They are fast and smart, versatile and racy.”

“We are thrilled to bring Bucchero to McMahon and the New York program as we feel Bucchero is built for a program like this,” added John McMahon. “He has shown he produces fast, precocious and, most importantly for New York breeders going forward, runners that can win on anything.” 

Malter, who campaigned Bucchero along with the current ownership group added, “All of us involved with Bucchero started as small breeders looking to survive in a very difficult market segment. Bucchero has proved he can get a breeder a quality sales horse and possibly even more importantly, a runner who will keep them looking forward to that 'mailbox money' small breeders depend on to succeed.”

On his way from Florida to New York, Bucchero will make a pit stop in Lexington during the second week of the Keeneland November Sale for a stallion show on November 14th from 1 – 4 pm at Kesmarc at 258 Shannon Run Rd, Versailles.

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Purchased for $70,000 out of this year's OBS March Sale with the objective of sending him over to Royal Ascot–where his sire was a strong fifth to Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) in the 2018 G1 King's Stand S.–Mattingly debuted in the May 13 Royal Palm Juvenile S., finishing runner-up to No Nay Mets (Ire) (No Nay Never), who received the automatic berth. Unplaced in the G2 Norfolk S., No Nay Mets has since added a pair of open-lengths stakes scores and is a leading U.S. hope for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. An easy maiden winner over this surface June 24, Mattingly was last seen finishing a softened-up second in the July 16 Victoria S. on the Woodbine Tapeta and landed here for a build-up into the fall.

Off quickly from gate four, the Florida-bred was soon overhauled at the fence by Esperon (Chitu), who zipped his opening quarter mile in :21.14 while opening a bit of daylight on the turn. Taking aim on the front-runner nearing the stretch, Mattingly needed to be straightened out by Samy Camacho approaching the eighth pole, but went to Esperon with about a sixteenth of a mile to race and edged clear. Okiro (Yoshida {Jpn}) rallied outside the eventual winner into the lane, but was outfinished for the victory.

“I learned a lot in that Woodbine race,” said winning trainer Joe Orseno. “When it scratched down to four horses, we thought, 'Just go. He's fast.' He got stuck in a speed duel to set it up for the horse coming off of it. I said, 'That's not going to happen again. I said, 'We've got to let [Esperon] and [Prevent {Neolithic}] go.' That was the plan we took, and it worked.”

Regarding future plans for the horse, Ironhorse Racing Managing Partner Harlan Malter said: “I honestly don't think he's truly a five-furlong horse, so we might just let them go knock heads at Santa Anita [in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint] and try a race like the [Nov. 4 $120,000] Atlantic Beach S. [at Aqueduct] to give him a little more distance and to see what he can do back on the turf. But nothing is off the table right now.”

Ironhorse also campaigns the Orseno-trained 3-year-old Bucchero filly Beauty of the Sea, winner of the Blue Sparkler S. in July, who also descends from a Gone West-line dam. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

HOLLYWOOD BEACH S., $90,000, Gulfstream, 9-30, 2yo, 5f (AWT), :56.67, ft.
1–MATTINGLY, 120, c, 2, by Bucchero
1st Dam: Battingstar, by Grand Slam
2nd Dam: Starship Sensation, by Go for Gin
3rd Dam: Tremor, by Tromos (GB)
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. ($70,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC & Harlow Stables LLC; B-Lance Colwell (FL); T-Joseph F Orseno; J-Samy Camacho. $64,000. Lifetime Record: 4-2-2-0, $147,028. *Third stakes winner for sophomore sire (by Kantharos).
2–Okiro, 120, c, 2, Yoshida (Jpn)–She Hung the Moon, by Malibu Moon. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. ($8,200 Ylg '22 FTKOCT; $25,000 2yo '23 OBSMAR). O-Yutaka Enterprises Corp.; B-Burleson Farm & McKenzie Bloodstock (KY); T-Jose Garoffalo. $13,000.
3–Esperon, 120, c, 2, Chitu–Satan's Mistress, by Songandaprayer. 1ST BLACK-TYPE. ($70,000 RNA 2yo '23 OBSMAR; $165,000 2yo '23 OBSOPN). O-Champion Equine LLC; B-Michael Frank (FL); T-J David Braddy. $7,800.
Margins: 1 3/4, 1, 1. Odds: 1.50, 2.80, 5.20.
Also Ran: Prevent, El Principito. Scratched: Hermoso Hombre, Roar Ready.

#FloridaBred Mattingly, a son of #FloridaSire ⁦@Buccherostud⁩ wins the $65,000 Hollywood Beach ⁦@GulfstreamPark⁩ while also earning a $25,000 Florida-bred win bonus. Ridden by ⁦@SamyCamacho1⁩ pic.twitter.com/vwxds4Tv3m

— FTBOA (@florida_horse) September 30, 2023

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