HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After briefly being tempted with the prospect of wheeling his Holy Bull winner Hades back Saturday in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, trainer Joe Orseno made the decision he knew in his heart was the right one, to bypass the race and await the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby four weeks further down the Kentucky Derby trail. Hades pulled off a stunning upset, re-rallying after being headed by the reigning 2-year-old champion Fierceness around the second turn, to win the Grade 3 Holy Bull and keep his record unblemished after three starts. Orseno said his horse came out of the race as fresh as when he went in and after a strong half-mile breeze two weeks later, began entertaining the thought of running in the Fountain of Youth. “I was on the fence for a while and discussed it with my owners before finally making the decision I was really leaning to all along, to wait the eight weeks for the Florida Derby,” Orseno said Monday. “The only reason to run in the Fountain of Youth was to experiment with trying to rate him, get him covered, and see how he responded. But he came off the pace and took plenty of dirt in his first race and when it came right down to it, I really didn’t want to run him in all three of these races. I’ve seen people make that mistake in the past and have their horse come up empty on the first Saturday in May.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Orseno gave Hades a stamina-enhancing breeze, of sorts, here Sunday. For all intents and purposes he had him just open-gallop a mile under his regular work rider, Ray Ganpath, from the seven-furlong pole an eighth of a mile past the wire in 1:47.96 per Daily Racing Form, letting him run out a bit the final three furlongs in 38.68 seconds. “It was perfect,” Orseno said. “I told Ray I wanted him to go out in 56 and come home in 52 and that’s exactly what he did. I just finished mapping out his work schedule leading into the Florida Derby. Ideally, he’ll work this coming Saturday, again the following Sunday. I’ll open gallop him just like this last one on [March 16], and he’ll have his final breeze on the 22nd.” If all continues to go well for Hades, Orseno is hoping to be making his second Kentucky Derby appearance and first in 23 years later this spring. His first Derby experience came in 2001, when he sent out Thunder Blitz to finish fourth behind Monarchos. One year earlier, Orseno bypassed the Derby with Red Bullet, who then upset Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus two weeks later in the Preakness. “Thunder Blitz was kind of our second string in the Derby that year behind Macho Uno, who just wasn’t ready for the race,” Orseno recalled. “As for winning the Preakness with Red Bullet, I wouldn’t trade that experience with any other. Personally, it was disappointing having to skip the Derby with him after finishing second in the Wood [Memorial], but that was Mr. Stronach’s decision. And when the boss told you to do something, you did it. In the end, it turned out to be the right call.” Speak Easy plans undecided An even bigger surprise, perhaps, than Hades not going into the Fountain of Youth was the fact that Speak Easy was entered by trainer Todd Pletcher, who also has the option of running the exciting prospect as a prohibitive favorite in a first-level allowance race going 1 1/8 miles here Friday. On Monday, Pletcher said he is keeping all his options open for the time being and might not make a final decision on which race he’ll choose for Speak Easy until as late as Friday morning. Speak Easy is owned in partnership by his breeder WinStar Farm and Siena Farms LLC. “I talked to Elliott [Walden] this morning and we’re just going to monitor how the horse is training through the week,” Pletcher advised. “It’s a tough call to make. He obviously ran fast enough to show he belongs in a stakes but on the other hand he has only one start. Both races have quality horses, so it’s all something to contemplate as the week goes on. The fact he drew the rail in the Fountain of Youth obviously makes it more enticing to run him there than if, say, he had drawn on the outside.” Pletcher also advised that plans for Born Noble, who he had also considered for the Fountain of Youth, are still up in the air. Born Noble did not work this past weekend as originally planned. “He’s doing fine, we just feel like we weren’t on schedule for the Fountain of Youth so we skipped the work,” said Pletcher. “His next start will definitely be in a Derby prep. The owner doesn’t want to run in Tampa so we’re deciding between the [Louisiana Derby], Blue Grass, Wood Memorial, [and] even the Florida Derby. We’ll just see how things unfold and point for a race somewhere.” Value Engineering in for the tag Wednesday’s feature is a $91,000 allowance/optional-claiming race carded at 1 1/2 miles on the turf. Post time beginning Wednesday and for all weekday cards moving forward has been advanced to 1:10 p.m. Value Engineering, winner of the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida here a year ago, is the marquee name in the field but will be racing under a $35,000 claiming tag for the first time. His chief competition could come from former stablemate and fellow 8-year-old Henley’s Joy, who won a similarly conditioned event going 11 furlongs here last month and was claimed for $35,000 from trainer Mike Maker by Saffie Joseph Jr., who wheels him right back for the same tag in the main event. Other key contenders include long-distance specialist Meyer and the improving Harry Hood. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.