Coal Battle

We've taken the plunge into the deeper end of the prep pool for the GI Kentucky Derby. Five nine-furlong stakes each awarding 100 qualifying points are scheduled over the next two Saturdays, after which this list will expand to the Top 20. 1) CITIZEN BULL (c, Into Mischief--No Joke, by Distorted Humor) O-SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Robert E. Masterson, Tom J. Ryan, Waves Edge Capital LLC and Catherine Donovan; B-Robert Low & Lawana Low (KY); T-Bob Baffert. Sales history:...

Bob Baffert has found himself in a familiar position as he once again brings a well-met runner into Saturday's GI Arkansas Derby with all the buzz behind him, this time in the form of 'TDN Rising Star' Cornucopian (Into Mischief), who has been made the 7-5 morning line favorite from the nine hole. Fresh off an unveiling which garnered the stamp of approval from the TDN, and stopped the clock in a six-furlong maiden special in an eye-catching 1:09.02--the fastest by a 3-year-old in Oaklawn history--the son of Into Mischief...

The Texas Thoroughbred Association's Texas Summer Yearling Sale will be held Aug. 26, beginning at 10 a.m., at Lone Star Park. A limited mixed session will follow the yearling session. "We've already had people asking about the yearling sale, so we are pleased to get the date set and start preparing for another successful auction," said Sales Director Foster Bridewell. "The yearling sale has produced some tremendous racehorses over the years, including the latest example in Coal Battle." A $70,000 graduate of the 2023 yearling sale, Coal Battle is already...

The reigning Horse of the Year 'TDN Rising Star' MGISW Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) has emerged from her tour de force in Saturday's GII Azeri Stakes, and is on track for an anticipated start in the GI Apple Blossom Apr. 12 at Oaklawn Park. Having emerged from her seasonal bow in said local prep for the Grade I marquee race for older fillies and mares, she will return to Fair Grounds early this week where trainer Kenny McPeek said she will train this month and 'maybe' into April before returning...

The catalogue for the Texas 2-year-olds in Training Sale, to be held April 2 at Lone Star Park, features 94 horses with a breeze show scheduled for March 31 at the Dallas-Fort Worth area track. Online bidding will be offered for the auction, which is operated by the Texas Thoroughbred Association, and supplements are still being accepted. "Consignors have consistently been bringing quality horses to our sales, and that's been proven over and over on the racetrack," said Sales Director Foster Bridewell. "We had 2-year-old sale graduate Frost Free win...

Watch out for the "Little Guy." Sold for just $70,000 at a yearling sale in Texas, owned by a grocery store owner from Alabama who has had just a few horses and trained by a veteran who had never won a graded stakes race before last weekend, Coal Battle (Coal Front) isn't exactly your typical GI Kentucky Derby horse. But the son Coal Front did it again last week, winning the GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Having also won the Smarty Jones Stakes, he is obviously for real. To talk...

Norman Stables' Coal Battle scored one for the little guy Sunday at Oaklawn Park, overtaking pacesetting California invader Madaket Road in upper stretch and leaving favored Sandman in his wake while striding home a 1 1/4-length winner of the GII Rebel Stakes. His owner, Robby Norman, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast to talk about the race, his Kentucky Derby aspirations, and the offers he has had to buy the horse.

The only rule is that there are no rules. Some of our most expensive freshmen are entering precisely the end game that drove their purchase: Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) and Muth (Good Magic) cost $2.3 million and $2 million respectively, as juveniles; Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) was a $950,000 yearling. Yet the GI Kentucky Derby remains as likely to be won by a $30,000 claim like Rich Strike (Keen Ice) or, most recently, a son of the $10,000 cover Goldencents. Last week, we saluted the advent of a $2,500 yearling...

Norman Stables' Coal Battle (Coal Front) scored one for the little guy Sunday at Oaklawn Park, overtaking pacesetting California invader Madaket Road (Quality Road) in upper stretch and leaving favored Sandman (Tapit) in his wake while striding home a 1 1/4-length winner of the GII Rebel Stakes. Sandman, who famously broke in a tangle before finishing a valiant second in the GIII Southwest Stakes a month ago, had most of the eyes on him as he broke professionally Sunday, but was unhurried and settled well off the pace as Madaket...

Prep season for the GI Kentucky Derby is still in its earliest stages, but a couple of races over the weekend gave us some things to get excited about. It appears, in GII San Vicente Stakes winner Barnes (Into Mischief), we have an early Derby favorite that could give Bob Baffert his first official Derby win since Authentic (Into Mischief) in 2020 in what would be his return to America's most famous race after the Churchill ban. Sold for $3.2 million at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, this could be a special horse....

Already a two-time stakes winner with 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in his possession, Coal Battle doubled that total Saturday and made it three in a row with a strong win in Saturday's Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Clearly a horse that can take his track with him (he's now made six starts over six different surfaces and on slop, mud, grass and fast going), the son of MGSW Coal Front jumped up last time out to upset the Remington Springboard Mile Dec. 13 at...

Three stakes wins against fellow Oklahoma-breds and a second in her only open company attempt, earned Miss Code West (Code West) the Horse of the Meeting honor at Remington Park for a second consecutive season. The 3-year-old filly received the most votes in the contentious category following the 2024 race meeting. Miss Code West joins Remington Park's all-time winningest horse, Welder, as the only two horses to win Horse of the Meeting more than once here. Out of Inca Miss (Kipling), Miss Code West is owned by Jeffry and Julie...