Rebel Rebel gets new goal: Commonwealth

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - What Hollywood Park lost, Churchill Downs found. Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. intended to run Rebel Rebel in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 27, but when Hollywood canceled turf racing for its entire meet, Dutrow went looking for a suitable alternative.

It didn't take Dutrow long to settle on the $150,000 Commonwealth Turf. The Commonwealth was created just last year by Churchill racing officials to fill whatever late-season voids might have existed in the 3-year-old turf division - and, clearly, that void grew larger when the Hollywood bombshell was dropped.

, an Irish-bred colt, came to the United States this summer with high credentials, having finished second, then fourth, in back-to-back Group 1 races in England and Ireland. The colt was the second wagering choice in his U.S. debut, the July 16 Virginia Derby, in which he finished a creditable third behind favored English Channel, and he punctuated that solid form by winning his lone subsequent start, an Oct. 20 turf allowance at Belmont Park, under Edgar Prado.

Rebel Rebel figures no worse than second choice among the nine 3-year-olds entered in the 1 1/16-mile Commonwealth. T.D. Vance, winner of the Bryan Station Stakes at Keeneland in his last start, could be a slight choice as he brings in a three-race win streak.

Prado, who rode T.D. Vance in the Bryan Station, stuck with Rebel Rebel, mostly because Dutrow is one of his most important clients.

Besides , the respective third- and fourth-place finishers behind T.D. Vance at Keeneland, and Spring House, a last-to-first winner of a Laurel Park stakes last month.

The rest of the field is Sky Conqueror, Cosmic Kris, Greater Good, and Cosmonaut.

Rebel Rebel was the lone supplementary entry. His owner, IEAH Stables, paid $7,500 to make the colt eligible, plus another $1,500 in entry and starting fees.

This will be the second running of the Commonwealth. The 2004 winner was Broadway View, who beat America Alive, an eventual Grade 1 winner, by a nose.

The Commonwealth occupies the usual race 9 feature slot on a 10-race Sunday card that also includes three allowances (races 3, 6, and 8). The eighth race may be the most interesting of those, as it matches 10 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.