Kentucky Derby 2025: Briley not in rush to decide on Coal Battle's next start

Coal Battle locked up a spot in the Kentucky Derby with his win in the Grade 2 Rebel last Sunday at Oaklawn Park. Whether he goes straight to the classic or has one more prep in the Arkansas Derby is a decision that will be made after the horse settles back into his training routine, said trainer Lonnie Briley.

“You think all the time,” Briley said of a trainer’s approach to a stable. “I tell everybody it’s 30 hours a day, eight days a week. If you’re not doing it, you’re thinking it.”

Briley said his primary objective is to bring a fresh Coal Battle to the Kentucky Derby. The horse has won his last four starts – all two-turn stakes on dirt – and leads his peers in Derby points with 70.

“I’ll kind of play it by ear, see what he wants to do, really,” he said. “I ran him in the Jean Lafitte and about three weeks later I ran him in the Springboard and about another three weeks later I ran him in the Smarty Jones and then I skipped the Southwest. So, it made it like seven weeks he hadn’t run when I ran him in this race and it was time to run.

“But now, with the Arkansas Derby on March 29, I don’t have much time. I’ve got a little better than four weeks and five weeks after that it’s the Derby. So, it’s kind of like not enough and too much, because if he’s feeling good and all that, training good, I wouldn’t mind running him in the Arkansas Derby, but I don’t want to go to the Kentucky Derby with a tired horse. So, I’m going to kind of wait and see how he’s training.”

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Briley said at this time, Coal Battle will remain at Oaklawn.

Speed King, the winner of the Southwest who ranks seventh on the Derby points list with 25, finished an uncharacteristic 10th in the Rebel.

“He came back good and seems to be happy,” said trainer Ron Moquett.

Speed King in December ran second to Coal Battle in the Springboard Mile. He is being considered for the Arkansas Derby.

“I like where he’s at right now, and I’m just going to let him take me there,” Moquett said. “I want to make sure we’re doing everything that’s right for him.”

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