Zipse: Ocelli follows Bodexpress as a Preakness maiden

At first glance, Ocelli and Bodexpress would seem to have little in common. One is a speedy Grade 1 winner who retired nearly six years ago, and the other is a maiden who loves to come from well off the early pace. The two share a strong bond, however, having both competed in the Kentucky Derby as maidens. 

Taking their connection a step farther, Bodexpress became well known as the horse who ran the Preakness Stakes without his rider. Meanwhile, it appears to be all systems go for the winless Ocelli to become one of only two starters from this year’s Kentucky Derby to come back to try the Preakness two weeks later. 

When the son of Connect steps into the starting gate for Saturday’s $2 million classic, he will become the first maiden to run in the middle jewel since Bodexpress famously did it seven years ago. 

Run Bodexpress did, but the 20-1 longshot did it without his Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez for the entire 1 3/16-miles of the 2019 edition of the middle jewel. 

The son of Bodemeister had been a solid second behind Maximum Security and ahead of Code of Honor in the Florida Derby (G1) at odds of 71-1. Despite the good effort at Gulfstream, he was let go once again at 71-1 odds five weeks later at Churchill Downs. 

He stayed close for a while as a Kentucky Derby maiden but he was bothered, packed it up early and retreated to cross the wire in 14th place. 

Ocelli was bet in a very similar fashion on the first Saturday in May. Trained by Whit Beckman and ridden for the first time by Tyler Gaffalione, at 70-1 he was the longest shot of all in an 18-horse field. That disrespect came despite a pretty good effort with blinkers off to rally for third in the Wood Memorial four weeks earlier. 

While Bodexpress faded out of contention in the Kentucky Derby, Ocelli did quite the opposite. Running for the second straight race without blinkers, he made a big run from 17th early. 

The bay colt bumped his way past horses and forged to the front inside the sixteenth-pole, but his lead was short-lived thanks first to Renegade and then by the Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo. 

The surprisingly strong run to finish third by the Ashley Durr, Anthony Tate and Front Page Equestrian-owned charge came in his seventh career start and despite still being a maiden, he promises to be a popular member of the Preakness field. 

It was in the seventh career start when Bodexpress gained popularity with a large number of racefans back in 2019. In a race ultimately won by the Mark Casse-trained War of Will, the maiden reared up in the starting gate and bucked Velazquez off his back in the first jump of the race. 

The veteran rider was not injured from the incident and neither was his mount. In fact, Bodexpress never quit trying in that Preakness. 

It was quite the site to see the riderless runner competing with the field from out in the middle of the track. Even after a mile had already been run, he proved to be too fast for an outrider who took a run at him down the Pimlico stretch. 

Eventually wrangled well after the completion of the race, Bodexpress had become a big part of the story of that edition of the middle jewel. The maiden had gained an army of new fans with his wild ride on national television. 

His saga on the racetrack would last another 18 months before an injury sent him to stud. After the Preakness, Bodexpress went on to win four times in ten starts for trainer Gustavo Delgado and closed out his racing career on a high note by defeating a deep field in the Clark Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs. 

One of the horses expected to run against Ocelli in Saturday’s classic will be Express Kid. The winner of the Springboard Mile is a son of none other than Bodexpress. Far from a household name as a sire, the coincidence creates another bond between the two lovable maidens of the Preakness Stakes. 

Ocelli and Bodexpress will go down in the history books for having run in the first two legs of the Triple Crown as maidens. One of the two already made their mark in the Preakness, albeit in an offbeat but memorable way.

Bodexpress had his fifteen minutes of fame in Maryland, now it’s the turn of Ocelli to see what he can do in the Preakness. My advice this time around would be to keep a close eye on the maiden.