The Maiden Ocelli Tasted Unofficial Victory at Aiken

Ocelli has banked $609,800 through seven starts, buoyed by show finishes in the $750,000 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack and the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs. Despite that sizable bankroll, he remains a maiden. Four jockeys have climbed on his back, but not one has guided him to a win, admittedly against fierce stakes competition of late. So that leaves trainer Joe Sharp with unique bragging rights with Ocelli—even though he doesn't even train the Connect colt. Before Ocelli's formal unveiling last fall for trainer Whit Beckman, Sharp, a former jockey, piloted Ocelli to an unofficial victory in March 2025 in a quarter-mile practice race in the first race at the Aiken Trials. He rode the then-unnamed 2-year-old for Travis Durr, who prepped Ocelli at his training center 1 1/2 hours to the east of Aiken, S.C. "I always give the jockeys a hard time—I'm the only one who has won on him," joked Sharp, who won 24 races as a rider before leaving that profession behind in 2011 to become a successful trainer. Sharp, who topped the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots standings this winter, even points his good-natured critique inward, saying he subsequently passed on the opportunity to buy the colt and add him to his stable. All of this is in good fun, which is precisely what attendees say the Aiken Trials are. A long-standing South Carolina tradition, the Aiken Trials feature racing (not of the official variety), tailgating, and pony races. Sharp and his wife, retired jockey Rosie Napravnik, like to cheer on their boys, Tucker and Carson, as they ride in these pony races, and if Sharp can secure a ride himself, it is the boys' turn to cheer on their dad. The Aiken Trials are strictly educational and do not appear on a horse's official record, but their history runs deep. Now in its ninth decade, the Trials were originally designed for prominent private stables wintering in Aiken to give horses experience and foundation before shipping north. Sometimes over the years, the event has attracted a collection of future stars, including Dogwood Stable's 1990 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Summer Squall, who was beaten in his Aiken Trial appearance in 1989 before later winning in his official debut at Keeneland the next month for trainer Neil Howard. Six Thoroughbreds who spent time at the Aiken Training Track have won the Kentucky Derby: Shut Out (1942), Lucky Debonair (1965), Cannonade (1974), Pleasant Colony (1981), Swale (1984), and Sea Hero (1993). Now that the Aiken area has a smaller horse population, the trials include 2-year-olds trained elsewhere in the state, such as those from Travis Durr Training Center. On May 16 at Laurel Park, Ocelli will aim to win the Preakness Stakes and rebound from a Kentucky Derby loss, just as Aiken Trials graduate Summer Squall did. Ocelli, beaten in the Derby by only a length after rallying to the lead with a sixteenth of a mile remaining, is one of the favorites for the $2 million second leg of the Triple Crown. That's in contrast to the Run for the Roses where he started at 70-1 odds and nearly pulled off an upset to match Rich Strike, the 80-1 surprise winner in 2022. For those from Aiken watching the 2026 Derby, "It was exciting," said Suzy Haslup, vice president of Aiken Training Track. She and others would have had a few dollars on him, too, if South Carolina permitted advance-deposit wagering. Nor was he the only horse from the Aiken Trials to run on Derby Day. Honey Dutch, another Travis Durr Training Center graduate who chased Ocelli when they met at Aiken, showed on the Kentucky Derby undercard when third in the American Turf Stakes (G1T). Beckman trains both 3-year-olds—Honey Dutch for Legion Racing and Awestrike Racing, and Ocelli for Durr's wife, Ashley, along with Anthony Tate and Front Page Equestrian. Ocelli came out just on top in their matchup 14 months ago in South Carolina. "So he knows how to put his head across the line first," Beckman said with a laugh during a May 8 National Thoroughbred Racing Association teleconference. This quarter-mile "winner" is now a classic-placed 3-year-old—remarkable, considering the contrasting distances. "He's shown every step of the way that he's capable of much more than meets the eye," his trainer said.