The richest Triple Crown prep so far in 2024 attracted a massive field of 13 hopefuls for this year’s Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. The 1-1/16 miles Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn is a career-maker in terms of purse and the next stop locally toward the Arkansas Derby.
Let’s meet the contenders for the Grade 2 $1,250,000 Rebel Stakes (Race 11):
#1-CARBONE: Son of champion sprinter Mitole has inside speed and will try to bounce back from a tiring seventh in the Grade 3 Southwest when he was the 9-5 favorite. Won both starts prior in wire-to-wire fashion. One of three trainees in this race for Steve Asmussen, a four-time winner of the Rebel.
#2-NORTHERN FLAME: Local allowance winner jumps back into the stakes ranks for the Kenny McPeek barn. Fourth and fifth in a pair of stakes in Kentucky as a juvenile, this $425,000 son of Flameaway must make up more than 9 lengths on Rebel rival Carbone from their Dec. 31 Oaklawn matchup. Stacked with top weight of 122 pounds, 3-5 more than the rest of the cast.
#3-COMMON DEFENSE: Late-running half of an uncoupled Kenny McPeek pair in the Rebel, he never threatened when finishing mid-pack in the Southwest at 20-1 odds. This will be the fourth start of the current Oaklawn meet, all in routes, for the son of Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Karakontie.
#4-TEJON PASS: West coaster has wintered at Oaklawn with mixed results, finishing second in the Renaissance Stakes to crack sprinter Valentine Cnady, but then finishing fifth as the 9-5 favorite in allowance company when stretched out around two turns. He’ll try even farther, but the son of Triple Crown winner Justify isn’t short on pedigree.
#5-MAGIC GRANT: Remington Park stakes winner and Springboard Mile third-place finisher never picked up a hoof when beating just one horse in the Southwest at 45-1 odds. Son of Good Magic, who sired 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, switches riders to Harry Hernandez.
#6-DIMATIC: Gun Runner colt drew clear late Feb. 3 in his Oaklawn unveiling after improving efforts from Churchill to Fair Grounds prior. Scored on the Southwest Stakes Day undercard when finishing more than two seconds slower than the featured event. Tyler Gaffalione, who won last week’s Risen Star Stakes on the Triple Crown trail at Fair Grounds aboard Sierra Leone, takes over for Saudi Arabia-traveling Joel Rosario. One of three trainees in this race for Steve Asmussen, a four-time winner of the Rebel.
#7-TIMBERLAKE: Grade 1 Champagne winner makes his sophomore debut after a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The $350,000 Into Mischief colt looks to give trainer Brad Cox his second Arkansas Derby series winner of 2024, having taken the Smarty Jones in January with Catching Freedom – who also teamed with local leading jockey Cristian Torres. Both prior victories have been when racing around one turn, so the Rebel provides a distance test.
#8-NEXT LEVEL: Last summer’s Del Mar Futurity third-place finisher hasn’t found the same success since leaving that prestigious boutique meet. He’s one for his last four, but exits a narrow runner-up finish in allowance company at Oaklawn behind Rebel re-matched foe Woodcourt. Son of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso notably has run his best races with Lasix, which won’t be available Saturday.
#9-LAGYNOS: Sprint-bred Kantharos colt failed to carry his speed in the Smarty Jones Stakes, setting the pace but fading to sixth over the same distance as the Rebel. He did win over that same trip in November at Churchill Downs when the pace was much softer. Expect him near the front. One of three trainees in this race for Steve Asmussen, a four-time winner of the Rebel. Keith Asmussen, son of the trainer, won four races on the card at Oaklawn on February 16.
#10-MENA: Well-bred son of Hard Spun-Pangburn is full-brother to 2021 Smarty Jones winner and Arkansas Derby runner-up Caddo River (who finished fifth in that year’s Rebel). His five previous races have been over five different tracks, finally settling in at Oaklawn after a local runner-up allowance bid Jan. 28 behind Rebel rival Northern Flame. Claimed for $30,000 in October at Keeneland.
#11-JUST STEEL: Second-place finishes in the Smarty Jones and Southwest make him the ironhorse of the Arkansas Derby trail to this stage for legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas. This $500,000 colt by Triple Crown winner Justify drew a disadvantageous post position for the second straight race after starting the Southwest from the 10-hole. Lukas won the Rebel in 2013 with Will Take Charge, some 24 years after his first success in this race. Will Take Charge also exited the Smarty Jones and Southwest and would use the Rebel as his final prep before the Kentucky Derby.
#12-WOODCOURT: Claimed for $50,000 at Turfway Park on December 22, this seasoned colt scored his Oaklawn unveiling Jan. 28 with an allowance victory for new trainer Cipriano Contreras. Well-beaten in a pair of juvenile stakes when with Brendan Walsh, he’ll be retested for class while making his field-best 10th lifetime start (Just Steel also makes his 10th start). He’s won races near the lead, from mid-pack and rallying from far back.
#13-TIME FOR TRUTH: Highly promising Dec. 31 debut sprint winner underscored that talent with a runner-up effort behind the now three-time stakes winner Valentine Candy in the Ozark Stakes next out. The Ron Moquett trainee gets tested for distance from a very difficult post position, putting the onus on veteran jockey Rafael Bejarano. Superb Oaklawn pedigree, he’s by 2019 Rebel and Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach, and his damsire Lookin At Lucky was the 2010 Rebel victor en route to his Preakness-winning campaign.
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