BY GULFSTREAM PARK PRESS OFFICE (Edited)
HALLANDALE BEACH, FL—Though the outcome left them feeling somewhat empty, D.J. Stable and Robert Cotran’s Hades gave his connections exactly the kind of performance they were hoping to see in his return to South Florida late last month.
Five weeks later, the owners and trainer Joe Orseno hope to end the month of August feeling fulfilled when Hades comes back against seven rivals in Saturday’s $70,000 Black Diamond Cat overnight handicap at Gulfstream Park.
The mile-and-a-sixteenth Black Diamond Cat for 3-year-olds and older over the main track headlines an 11-race program on closing weekend of the Royal Palm Meet. Post time is 12:50 p.m.
A Florida-bred son of Ocala Stud’s multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Awesome Slew, Hades crossed the wire a neck ahead of runner-up Catalytic in Gulfstream’s nine-furlong Tackleberry overnight handicap July 25, just his second start as a 4-year-old.
It was the first race for Hades on his home track since winning each of his first three career starts at Gulfstream capped by the 2024 Holy Bull (G3) over subsequent Grade 1-hero Domestic Product and champion millionaire Fierceness, who would end Hades’ streak in the Florida Derby (G1).
The elation of his return to the winner’s circle for the first time since the Holy Bull did not last, as Hades was disqualified to second for drifting out and interfering with Catalytic in deep stretch.
“The disappointment was, yeah, they moved him down to second, but everybody was thrilled with the race,” Orseno said. “When you get a race like that, it’s not really about the money. That didn’t play a part with any of the owners. We were very, very excited about the race, the way he dug in.”
After finishing third or better in five of eight races as a 3-year-old including a second to Domestic Product in the one-mile Dwyer (G3) at Aqueduct, Hades had made only one start this year when he was a tiring seventh in a second-level, $75,000 optional claiming over a sloppy and sealed seven furlongs on June 7 at Saratoga.
Hades was still with Orseno’s summer string in New Jersey when the trainer decided to bring the gelding back for the Tackleberry, where he went off as the narrow 8-5 second choice behind 2024 Florida Derby-runner-up Catalytic at 3-2.
“He had one seven-furlong race and I couldn’t get him in anywhere, so that’s how we ended up back in South Florida. When I entered him, he was still at Monmouth Park,” Orseno said. “We quick got him on a van and got him here. He could not have been ready to go a mile-and-an-eighth, but he still dug in and tried and showed that he’s back. That’s the main thing. He’s back.”
Since the race Hades has worked once at Gulfstream, a one-mile breeze in 1:48.60 Aug. 24 over the main track. He will carry topweight of 123 pounds including jockey Edgard Zayas from the rail, yielding from one to 11 pounds as the narrow 2-1 program favorite.
“He was passed and really legitimately should have been third [last time]. The way those other horses collared him at the top of the stretch I thought, ‘Oh, boy. Now the fitness is going to come in,’ but he dug in and just kept trying,” Orseno said. “We gave him a good freshener and now hopefully we can go forward and have a really good 4-year-old year with him.”
Hades is out of The Shady Lady, by Quality Road and was bred in Florida by Ocala Stud, Joseph M. O’Farrell III, David O’Farrell, et. al. He has three wins, three seconds and two thirds from 12 career starts with earnings of $391,440.
Tami Bobo’s Catalytic picked up the Tackleberry win in his first start for trainer Antonio Sano. The 4-year-old bay colt has been worse than second only once in 10 career starts, when he finished 19th in the 2024 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) after earning a spot with this Florida Derby effort. He has a record of 8-3-5-0 at Gulfstream, where he was second in the seven-furlong Carry Back last summer.
Second choice on the morning line at 5-2, Catalytic will be ridden by Edwin Gonzalez from post six.
Also exiting the Tackleberry are Relampago Verde (4-1) and Fiveeyesonskystars (15-1), respectively third and fourth separated by less than two lengths. Michael Iavarone and Sanford Robbins’ Relampago Verde has finished third twice in three starts for trainer Bobby Dibona, including the Wildcat Red overnight handicap June 8.
JC Racing Stable’s Lightning Tones (7-2) will be making a co-field high 30th career start in the Black Diamond Cat. The 5-year-old Tonalist gelding, unraced since finishing fifth as the favorite in a one-mile optional claimer May 17 at Gulfstream, won the 2023 Carry Back and Jan. 11 Sunshine Classic and was third to Mindframe in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) March 1.
Las Olas (30-1), also with 29 prior starts; Roar of the Beast (10-1), from Royal Palm Meet leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., and Smart Striker (15-1), twice stakes-placed on the all-weather Tapeta course in 2023, complete the field.
Florida-bred Black Diamond Cat made 66 starts over seven seasons of racing between 2009 and 2015, placing third or better 28 times with nine wins, five in stakes, and $500,579 in purse earnings for Bluestone Thoroughbreds and late trainer Larry Bates.
Return to the August 28 issue of Wire to Wire
