Confidence Game ($39) surges to Rebel Stakes victory
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Confidence Game brought his ‘A’ game to the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, where he swung five-wide into the stretch and rolled home in front to secure 50 points for the Kentucky Derby.
Confidence Game won by length over Red Route One, while it was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third to Reincarnate. The runner-up and third place finisher earned a respective 20 and 15 points for the Kentucky Derby, while fourth-place finisher Verifying earned 10 and fifth-place finisher Bourbon Bash gained 5.
The Rebel was run on a sloppy, sealed track before an enthusiastic, estimated on-track crowd of 42,000.
Confidence Game ($39) broke with the field and settled mid-pack in the 11-horse Rebel, as Powerful set fractions of 22.75 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.17 for the half-mile and 1:11.45 for six furlongs while under pressure from Frosted Departure. Confidence Game advanced three-wide on the final turn, came five-wide into the stretch, and powered home to cover 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.21.
From there, Confidence Game galloped out strongly, said winning rider James Graham.
“The outrider had to pick me up,” Graham said in a post-race interview conducted by Oaklawn. “I’m hoping he can carry me all the way to the Derby!”
Keith Desormeaux trains Confidence Game, who came into the Rebel off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Lecomte on Jan. 21 at Fair Grounds. One start prior, the horse won a Churchill Downs allowance over Rocket Can, eventual winner of the Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park.
"He's really come into his own," Desormeaux said. "He started off pretty immature, but as the races went on, he has improved mentally and physically."
Red Route One closed from nearly 20 lengths back for second, and following the race there was a claim of foul against his rider by the rider of third-place finisher Reincarnate, alleging interference in the stretch. After a lengthy review, the stewards made no change to the order of finish.
Confidence Game is a son of Candy Ride and the mare Eblouissante, who is a half-sister to Horse of the Year Zenyatta. Confidence Game races for Don’t Tell My Wife Stables. He was winning his first stakes race in the Rebel and with the win improved his career mark to 3 for 7 for earnings of $785,525.
Verifying, who was the favorite in the Rebel, and Giant Mischief, who finished sixth as the second choice, are both likely headed back to Fair Grounds, trainer Brad Cox said.
“We’ll regroup,” he said. “Obviously, we were hoping for a better result. I think both got something out of it.”
The start was the second on the year for Verifying and the first since December for Giant Mischief.
Confidence Game earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 94 for his win Saturday.
Handle on the 12-race card from all sources Saturday was $21.4 million.
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