Rebel Stakes

Class President (Uncle Mo), who scratched from last week's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, is off the Kentucky Derby trail with bone bruising, WinStar's Elliott Walden announced Friday. The GII Rebel Stakes winner, who is owned in partnership by WinStar Farm, First Go Racing and the China Horse Club, will be given 60 days off according to Walden but will not require surgery. In a post to the social media site X, Walden said, "Class President will get 60 days off for bone bruising. He had all diagnostics (pet,ct, X-rays)...

GII Rebel Stakes winner Class President (Uncle Mo) will scratch from Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. The news, reported on social media by DRF's David Grening, comes from the colt's trainer Todd Pletcher who is quoted as saying, "Just didn't like the way he went today. Not saying he's off the Derby trail. We'll check him out." Class President, who is owned in partnership by WinStar Farm, First Go Racing and the China Horse Club, last put in a recorded breeze March 28 at Palm Beach Downs when he...

John Oxley's Silent Tactic (Tacitus) drilled five furlongs in 1:01.60 (7/11) Thursday morning at Oaklawn Park in advance of the Mar. 28 GI Arkansas Derby, for which he figures one of the top few betting selections. A $60,000 Fasig-Tipton October yearling turned $500,000 OBS April juvenile, Silent Tactic was returning to the worktab for the first time since dropping a nose decision to Class President (Uncle Mo) in the GII Rebel Stakes on Mar. 1. Prior to that the bay flew home to post an impressive victory in the GIII...

By now, no doubt, it must be among my most wearily familiar complaints. Only last week, in fact, I was again lamenting the days when old-school trainers would start Classic campaigns round one turn, gaining sharpness and conditioning without entering a stress zone. Nowadays those benefits are forfeited by the twin imperatives of hiding horses in their stalls, even as they need GI Kentucky Derby points. Those points being unavailable in sprints, the defining test of the American Thoroughbred has duly been shorn of raw speed. Other traditionalists presumably shared...

When a field of 10 enters the starting gate for Saturday's GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, they'll sure have some big shoes to fill. Twelve months ago, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) embarked on what would become a Horse of the Year campaign with a narrow victory in his seasonal debut and a little more than two months later, joined Spectacular Bid (1979), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013) as horses to add the GI Kentucky Derby in the last half-century. Horses such as Union Rags (2012) and...

John Oxley's Silent Tactic (Tacitus) will likely make his next start in the Mar. 1 GII Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park following his upset victory in the GIII Southwest Stakes Friday in Arkansas, trainer Mark Casse confirmed. The Southwest was Casse's third consecutive victory in a Kentucky Derby qualifying race at Oaklawn, following last season's GI Arkansas Derby with Sandman (Tapit) and the Jan. 3 Smarty Jones Stakes with Strategic Risk (Noble Bird). Silent Tactic closed to finish second in the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones. "The thing, too, it wasn't...

The GII Fantasy Stakes will be worth $1 million when it is run next year at Oaklawn Park, while the purse for the Arkansas track's GIII Honeybee Stakes will be increased for the second consecutive time, from $500,000 to $750,000 in 2026. "The increase to our Fantasy Stakes by itself makes a very strong statement," Oaklawn's President Louis A. Cella said. "This will be the first time in the history of North American racing that 3-year-old fillies will have an opportunity to run for a seven-figure purse prior to the...

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...