Field Taking Shape for Rebel Stakes

The field for the $900,000 Rebel Stakes (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park is coming into sharper focus. The March 19 race is the final major local prep for the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. I) April 16.

 

The projected field grew to 13 Saturday morning, with lightly raced Cupid and Z Royal opting to scratch out of races later in the day at Santa Anita Park and Oaklawn, respectively, in favor of the Rebel.

 

Cupid was entered in the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita, but is now booked on a flight for Tuesday in Southern California to run in the Rebel, a race the colt's Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, has won five times since 2010, including last year with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  .

 

Cupid, a son of Tapit   who was a $900,000 Keeneland September yearling sale purchase, earned a Feb. 7 maiden victory at Santa Anita at the Rebel's 1 1/16-mile distance. The was the colt's third lifetime start and first around two turns. 

 

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is scheduled to be represented by two horses in the Rebel, after scratching Z Royal from the seventh race at Oaklawn, a second-level allowance/optional claimer. Lukas said Ramon Vazquez will have the mount in the Rebel on Z Royal, who is coming off a troubled eighth-place finish in the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) Feb. 15 at Oaklawn.

 

Lukas said an iffy racing surface Saturday (Hot Springs has had persistent rain since Tuesday) factored into his decision to point Z Royal to the Rebel.

 

"The track conditions today aren't perfect," Lukas said before training hours Saturday morning. "I thought we would give him a chance to find out where we're at. He's doing really well."

 

Z Royal races for his breeder, Zayat Stables, which also campaigned American Pharoah.

 

Lukas was already scheduled to be represented in the Rebel by Gray Sky, fifth in the Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 18 at Oaklawn. He said he has yet to secure a rider for Gray Sky, who finished second in a Feb. 13 allowance race at Oaklawn.

 

Additionally, trainer Dallas Stewart said he plans to start Fair Grounds-based Spikes Shirl in the Rebel. He also said jockey Jesus Castanon will likely ride the Speightstown   colt, who has been second in two allowance/optional claiming races in New Orleans this year.

 

The additions of Cupid and Z Royal offset the recent defections of Mo for the Money, Dazzling Gem, and Vorticity.

 

The Rebel is limited to 14 starters, with starting preference given to horses with the highest earnings. Cupid ($47,500), Spikes Shirl ($41,902) and Z Royal ($40,911) are 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively, among horses confirmed for the 1 1/16-mile Rebel. 

 

Also scheduled to run in the Rebel are Suddenbreakingnews, Whitmore, American Dubai, Discreetness, Ralis, Cutacorner, Creator, Cherry Wine, and Siding Spring.

 

Suddenbreakingnews (first), Whitmore (second), American Dubai (third), Siding Spring (fifth), Discreetness (seventh), and Cutacorner (ninth) also exit the Southwest.

 

Ralis, also booked on the Tuesday flight from Southern California, will be making his 3-year-old debut for trainer Doug O'Neill. He won the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) Sept. 7 at Saratoga Race Course.

 

Creator, another son of Tapit, was a dazzling Feb. 27 maiden winner at Oaklawn for six-time Oaklawn training champion Steve Asmussen.

 

Florida-based Cherry Wine will be making his stakes debut for trainer Dale Romans after winning his last two starts by a combined 15 1/4 lengths.

 

Post positions for the Rebel will be drawn March 16.