Rebel Stakes

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...

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.

In racing as in life, good things come to those who wait. And while we have had to endure an extra 24 hours for Sunday's rescheduled GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, the wait may just prove worth it as a full, competitive field of 3-year-olds line up with 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby on the line. The top three runners from the GIII Southwest Stakes face each other once again Sunday with Speed King (Volatile) taking top billing back on Jan. 25 over a hard-closing...

A veteran Hall of Fame trainer, Mark Casse knows that sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Casse-trained Sandman (Tapit) turned in a remarkable effort in his last start, the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn, finishing second after breaking in a tangle and dropping far behind the leaders. Once straightened out, he rallied furiously and finished second, missing by just a length. To talk about the Southwest and Sandman's next start, Sunday's GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, Casse joined the team on this week's TDN Writers' Room podcast...

With freezing weather in the forecast, Oaklawn Park has shifted its racing schedule for the coming week. The Hot Springs oval has canceled racing Friday and will move its Friday card to Saturday. The card originally scheduled for Saturday, which included the GII Rebel Stakes and GIII Honeybee Stakes, will be moved to Sunday. Races scheduled for Sunday will now be run Monday. Extreme cold temperatures also caused Turfway Park to move its Wednesday racing card to Sunday, with a first post time of 4:15 p.m. The Florence, Kentucky track...

By now we're long familiar with the key transition that sealed the hegemony of Into Mischief. The moment of "Authentication" came in 2020, with a Horse of the Year from the first book of mares the Spendthrift phenomenon had covered even at $45,000; while the next crop, conceived at $75,000, produced a second consecutive GI Kentucky Derby winner in Mandaloun. While the latter was indebted to the disqualification of the winner, the fact remains that he managed to outstay the other 17 starters. In the process, he confirmed that Into...

WinStar Farm's Timberlake (Into Mischief) exited his win in Saturday's GII Rebel S. in fine shape, according to Jorgito Abrego, Oaklawn Park assistant to trainer Brad Cox. "He looks good," Abrego said. "Looks very happy." Timberlake, winner of last year's GI Champagne S. and fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, collected 50 qualifying points for the victory and has 66 overall to rank number one on the Kentucky Derby leader board released Saturday by Churchill Downs. The Rebel was his first victory around two turns. "I'm very happy," said...

Two turns? It turns out there's no problem. When Timberlake (c, 3, Into Mischief--Pin Up {Ire}, by Lookin At Lucky) finished a somewhat rank, then flat, fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November, questions swirled about his ability to get two turns. Trainer Brad Cox brushed the questions aside and let the horse do the talking. A freshened Timberlake, making his first start of the year in Oaklawn's GII Rebel S. Saturday, captured the $1.3-million race by a resounding two lengths over Kenny McPeek trainees Common Defense (Karakontie...

Ocean Reef Racing, a Key Largo, Florida-based syndicate made up of nine partners, has bought an interest in GII Rebel S. winner Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) from the colt's owner, Don't Tell My Wife Stable. Confidence Game is expected to make his next start in the GI Kentucky Derby for trainer Keith Desormeaux. William "Billy" Paytner, who heads the Ocean Reef syndicate, would not disclose the percentage that was purchased, but said that it was less than 50% and that Don't Tell My Wife will remain the principal owner....

When Robert Garrett sold his power line company last year, he knew just how to fill up his free time. The Oklahoman headed to Ocala where, with the help of trainer Chris Hartman, he purchased a son of Cloud Computing for $220,000 at last year's OBS Spring Sale. Now named Two Eagles River, stakes-placed and fresh off a dominant allowance victory at Oaklawn Park, the 3-year-old has Garrett enjoying retirement. "I've owned horses out here in Oklahoma and I owned a stallion and some broodmares, but that's the first one...

Had he done this once, maybe twice, the easy conclusion would be that trainer Keith Desormeaux is just lucky. Anyone can stumble onto a good horse that slipped through the cracks at the sales and was bought for a song. But with Desormeaux there's obviously a lot more to it than that. He keeps finding these good horses that most everyone else overlooks, the latest example being Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}), the $25,000 buy at Keeneland September who won Saturday's $1-million GII Rebel S. at Oaklawn, securing a spot...

Don't Tell My Wife Stables' Confidence Game (Candy Ride {Arg}) exited his upset win in Saturday's GII Rebel S. in fine shape, according to trainer Keith Desormeaux. "He's happy," Desormeaux said Sunday. "He looks a lot more calm and happy than he was in that damn [indoor] paddock." The Rebel victory propelled Confidence Game to the top of the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 57 points. Confidence Game shipped back to Desormeaux's Fair Grounds base Sunday afternoon, but could return to Oaklawn Park for the GI Arkansas Derby Apr. 1. "For...