Rebel Stakes could split into two divisions

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Will the Rebel Stakes draw enough horses to be split into two divisions? It’s the burning question leading up to the Grade 2 Kentucky Derby prep that runs March 16 at Oaklawn Park.

Oaklawn – amid Santa Anita’s temporary halt in racing – has committed to splitting the Rebel into two $750,000 divisions if 20 or more horses are entered Wednesday. Santa Anita was to run the San Felipe, a major Kentucky Derby prep, on Saturday, and it was expected to draw the Bob Baffert-trained pair of champion Game Winner and Improbable.

Whether one, or both, of the leading Kentucky Derby candidates is rerouted to Oaklawn remains to be seen. Baffert said Thursday decisions will be made after the horses work Sunday at Los Alamitos. If the two come to Oaklawn and the Rebel is split, it is unlikely they will face each other in the same division, based on procedures at Oaklawn.

Pat Pope, the track’s racing secretary, said Friday that from the pool of entries horses with the same owners are “split away” first, and then horses with the same trainers are “split away,” and “from there single interests are just divided by random.” The number of horses an owner or trainer has entered beyond two will determine the likelihood of runners from their stables facing each other, Pope said.

Pope said Oaklawn would be pleased to run two divisions of the Rebel, but whether that happens will not be known until entries are taken Wednesday.

“We’re hopeful that we can, because it’s a good thing for these horses to continue down the path of the Triple Crown,” he said Friday. “And it’s very good for the state of Arkansas.”

Oaklawn is gearing up for a huge program Saturday, as it runs the $350,000 Essex Handicap and Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri on the same card and will also offer inflated purses for overnight races for 3-year-olds.

Nominations for the Rebel were held open until Friday, while the Essex and Azeri closed Thursday and were released Friday.

Pope said as of Thursday there were flights bringing horses to Oaklawn from both Florida and Southern California. The horses from Florida were scheduled to arrive Tuesday, and the runners from California are expected Wednesday.

Horses known to be pointing to the Rebel include Galilean, Jersey Agenda, Laughing Fox, Long Range Toddy, Market King, Mucho Gusto, Omaha Beach, Our Braintrust, Gunmetal Gray, Extra Hope and Parsimony. Possibles include Six Shooter and Frosted Ice and, if the field is short, Gray Attempt.

In addition, trainer Todd Pletcher said earlier this month he was looking strongly at sending a horse for the Rebel, a race he won last year with Magnum Moon.

Pope said he has had conversations with some trainers looking at sending additional runners if it appears the Rebel will split. He said it was horsemen who first contacted Oaklawn about the potential for running divisions of the Rebel, something that has happened in the past with the Southwest Stakes.