Though the Feb. 23 Rebel Stakes (G2) from Oaklawn Park is the main event this weekend on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, other races for 3-year-olds—both domestically and internationally—should spotlight promising horses.
Up first during the evening of Feb. 22 is the John Battaglia Stakes, an ungraded 1 1/16-mile race on Tapeta at Turfway Park that lured graded stakes winner First Resort to compete against an overflow field. Then the next day is the 14-horse Rebel, with three Derby Dozen-ranked horses among its contenders, plus the Hyacinth Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse, a stop on Japan's Road to the Kentucky Derby.
All three offer qualifying points on the road to the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1)—unlike Saturday's $1.5 million Saudi Derby (G3) at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia. That noted, some horses from it have gone on to qualify elsewhere and race in the first leg of the American Triple Crown.
Forever Young won the Saudi Derby last year, qualified for the Kentucky Derby by winning the UAE Derby (G2) in Dubai, and then finished two noses away from victory when third in the 2024 Kentucky Derby behind Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone.
In 2023, Derma Sotogake was a slow-starting third in the Saudi Derby before rebounding with a win in the UAE Derby and later finishing sixth in the Run for the Roses.
American shipper Cyclone State will likely vie for favoritism with the Japanese-trained filly Myriad Love in the one-mile Saudi Derby. Golden Vekoma and Apples And Bananas lead the opposition.
Though Myriad Love and two other Japanese runners traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Derby, the cupboard of talented runners in Japan remains full. Ten 3-year-olds were entered in one-mile Hyacinth, whose winner will become the points leader on Japan's Road to the Kentucky Derby. There is one remaining race as part of that series: the March 29 Fukuryu Stakes at Nakayama.
Churchill Downs officials allot one starting position for a horse from the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, with preference given to the horses with the most points.
Eight horses based in Japan have run in the Kentucky Derby: Ski Captain (14th, 1995); Lani (ninth, 2016); Master Fencer (sixth, 2019); Crown Pride (13th in 2022); Derma Sotogake; Mandarin Hero (12th in 2023); Forever Young; and T O Password (fifth in 2024).
This year's Hyacinth field is led by the American Pharoah colts Luxor Cafe and Taisei Dorado.
The John Battaglia also seems to have drawn a better-than-usual field due to First Resort's presence. Already proven as a stakes competitor on dirt, having won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) last fall for Godolphin at Churchill Downs, the Uncle Mo colt makes his first start on a synthetic surface in racing over Turfway's Tapeta.
His works over the track have been quick, and his trainer, Eoin Harty, is often keen to train and race his horses over such ground.
Godolphin's bench of 3-year-olds is also quite deep this year, and many have competed around the country rather than face one another. Harty sent First Resort's graded stakes-winning stablemate Poster to Tampa Bay Downs, where he ran third in the Feb. 8 Sam F. Davis Stakes.
If First Resort is short of fitness in his return from last fall or does not care for racing over a synthetic surface, California Burrito and Baby Max are route-proven performers over the Turfway track that could capitalize. They are also past winners at Churchill Downs, suggesting they could hold their form after the Turfway meet ends this spring.
Sandman, coming off a troubled trip when second in the Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn behind Speed King, will likely start as a tepid favorite in the Rebel, which was postponed from Saturday to Sunday due to harsh winter weather in Arkansas this week.
Sandman cannot afford to break slowly and race wide as he did in the Southwest when Speed King defeated him by a length. The latter still appeared to have plenty left at the finish, though his lead was diminishing at the wire. After putting away another rival, he seemed to coast in late stretch but galloped out with energy.
The Rebel should further serve as a class trial for debut maiden winner Hypnus—who trainer Kenny McPeek called a "beast" before his unveiling—and a stamina test for Bullard, whose three starts have come in sprints.
(Editor's Note: After the filing of this story, Bullard was announced on Feb. 21 as scratched after spiking a temperature, according to co-owner West Point Thoroughbreds.)
Other notable entrants include Madaket Road, third in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park for trainer Bob Baffert, an eight-time Rebel winner; Tiztastic, graded stakes-placed in three consecutive dirt races for Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen; and Coal Battle, whose only losses in his six-race career came in a pair of turf races.
The latter, 10-1 on the morning line, might partly slip past the betting public. A three-time stakes winner for Norman Stables and trainer Lonnie Briley, he defeated Speed King in the Dec. 13 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes before taking the Jan. 4 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park by four lengths.
The Rebel offers qualifying points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale to its top five finishers, while the John Battaglia offers them on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis. The Hyacinth provides qualifying points on a 30-15-9-6-3 scale for Japanese runners in a separate series from the American Road to the Kentucky Derby.
