Oaklawn Park: Lukas wants Strong Mandate to relax in Rebel
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Strong Mandate’s training for the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Saturday has been designed to shake off the memory of the out-of-sorts trip he had when second in last month’s Southwest Stakes. He is one of eight horses that were entered in the Rebel when the race was drawn on Wednesday. Strong Mandate will break from post 4.
The Rebel, to be run over a mile and a sixteenth, is the final prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 12. It also carries 85 preference points for the Kentucky Derby, with the first four finishers to receive points on a sliding scale of 50-20-10-5. The field for Saturday’s race includes Tapiture, winner of the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest, Kobe’s Back, who captured the Grade 2 San Vicente, and Hoppertunity, who will seek to give trainer Bob Baffert his fourth win in the Rebel.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
Strong Mandate was the even-money favorite in the 12-horse Southwest at his base of Oaklawn following a third-place finish in the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He missed the break in the Southwest, was trapped on the first turn, then when clear rushed up on the backstretch. He ended up 4 1/4 lengths behind Tapiture. Strong Mandate’s most significant work since the Southwest came March 6, when he breezed five furlongs in 1:03.60. Clockers carried him through fractions of 13 seconds for the opening eighth of a mile; 26.60 for the first quarter; 40.20 for three furlongs; and 23.40 for his final quarter, under exercise rider Alberto Rodriguez.
“We had to be careful on that work, because he blew down that backside in the Southwest,” Lukas said. “So, I didn’t want him blowing down that backside in 23 [seconds] and then coming home in 27, so what I did is I gave him an easy first three-eighths, and let him relax, which he did. We were glad to see that. We were working on that, and then he jumped on it and came home in [23.40], so that was impressive.
“On all these 3-year-olds, you’re always tweaking a little bit to try and get the best performance.”
Joel Rosario has the mount on Strong Mandate, who on Wednesday opened his lungs a little through the stretch at Oaklawn.
The complete field for the Rebel, from the rail with riders is, Jet Cat, John McKee; Ride On Curlin, Kent Desormeaux; Tapiture, Ricardo Santana Jr.; Strong Mandate, Rosario; Hoppertunity, Mike Smith; Sheltowee’s Boy, Joshua Navarro; Street Strategy, Calvin Borel; and Kobe’s Back, Jose Lezcano.
The Rebel will go as the 10th race on an 11-race program that begins at 1 p.m. Central. The forecast for Saturday is a high of 64 degrees and a 50 percent chance of showers, according to The Weather Channel.