Trainer Joe Orseno's excitement for Hades was palpable at the 2023 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. The colt, sired by Awesome Slew, impressed Orseno so much that he convinced two long-standing clients to join forces for the first time and secure the promising youngster for $130,000. However, Orseno's initial elation was dampened when Hades failed to live up to expectations during his early training sessions at Gulfstream Park.
Orseno noticed that Hades displayed stud-like behaviour, appearing weaker behind and not performing as expected. Determined not to give up on the talented colt, Orseno decided to geld him, believing that it would contribute to his future success. This proved to be a turning point for Hades, as he showed remarkable progress and resembled the impressive 2-year-old in training that had initially caught Orseno's attention.
Hades made a triumphant debut at Gulfstream Park, overcoming a challenging start and rallying from the back to secure victory in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden optional claiming race on December 9. He followed up this performance with a dominant front-running win by eight lengths in a seven-furlong allowance race. In his stakes debut, the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull Stakes (G3), Hades set a pressured pace from the start and ultimately triumphed by two lengths, leaving the heavily favoured Fierceness trailing in third place.
Looking ahead, Orseno is considering Hades' participation in either the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) on March 2 or the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) on March 30, both held at Gulfstream Park. Hades resumed training on February 6 and has shown encouraging signs of progress, with Orseno closely monitoring his performance.