Ocelli

Ocelli began his career as a 2-year-old in 2025 and was still a maiden after his first start in 2026 when he entered a series of stakes races including a sixth-place finish in the $210,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, and a sixth-place finish in the $500,000 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs.

Ocelli entered the Grade 2 $750,000 Wood Memorial Stakes presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct on April 4, 2026. Racing as a maiden in a 12-horse field in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial, Ocelli was able to secure a third-place finish and earned 25 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Ocelli advanced on points into the field for the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby after scratches in the field allowed him in off the also eligible list. Racing as a maiden in the Derby field of 18 starters, Ocelli was sent off as a 70.50-1 odds longshot from post 17 in the run for the roses but closed from near the rear of the field ran a very respectable third-place effort to lose by a total of only a length. Ocelli subsequently returned to make his next start in the Preakness Stakes and once again filled a bridesmaid role when he finished fourth in a field of 14 horses.