Orseno ultra-confident with Hades in Black Diamond Cat
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Hades, a disqualified winner last time out for trainer Joe Orseno, has the chance to remove all doubt when he breaks from the rail in the $70,000 Black Diamond Cat Handicap at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Though the stewards saw fit to take him down last time out, Orseno could not have been happier with the 4-year-old gelding.
“He ran a great race other than the outcome of getting taken down,” Orseno said. “We were pretty pleased with his effort anyway, and he has no idea he lost. Other than not getting the money, and the money is secondary, we have big hopes for this horse.”
After a dull effort on a sloppy track at Saratoga in June, Hades returned home to Gulfstream and made his second start of the year in the $70,000 Tackleberry. Dueling inside all the way around the track, the Florida-bred dug in to win by a neck, only to be disqualified for bumping runner-up Catalytic in the stretch.
The four top finishers from the Tackleberry will meet again in the Black Diamond Cat. Hades and Catalytic will be rejoined by 5-year-old gelding Relampago Verde and 4-year-old colt Fiveeyesonskystars, who didn’t finish far behind the front-running pair.
Hades might have been denied in July, but Orseno has no doubts that he has the one to beat this time around. In his 3-year-old campaign, the gelding won the Grade 3 Holy Bull and went on to finish second in the Grade 3 Dwyer and $300,000 Bourbon Flight. The trainer intends to prepare him for more prestigious races in due time.
“Hoping he moves forward a little bit, and based on the way he’s training, it looks like it,” Orseno said.
Catalytic, a 4-year-old colt trained by Antonio Sano, might have needed some help to notch his second straight victory last time out, but the winning streak is far better than what transpired earlier in his career. After a juvenile maiden victory in 2023, he finished second in all but one of his next seven starts. The streak was only interrupted by a 19th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby last year.
Roar of the Beast is a fresh face in the Black Diamond Cat. He is the only 3-year-old in the field and will be taking his first shot at older horses for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
The colt received considerable attention in the $100,000 Petramalo Mile at Colonial Downs earlier this month, but he was forced to chase runaway pacesetter Rolando in track-record time and faded to seventh. Roar of the Beast has never run 1 1/16 miles and Joseph said that he didn’t have a firm opinion of his horse’s ability to meet such challenges.
Smart Striker, a 5-year-old gelding trained by Carlos David, will make his first start on dirt since December of last year. He has run twice on the surface without much success in his 28-race career, but the Florida-bred has improved on turf since David claimed him for $10,000 in May.
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