Red River Rebel rides rail to Frost King Stakes victory

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Red River Rebel graduated in style Friday night at Woodbine, taking the $100,400 Frost King Stakes under a rail-skimming ride from Steven Bahen.

Red River Rebel became the first stakes winner for leading Canadian freshman sire Reload in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired 2-year-olds. He raced in fourth on the backstretch before closing along the best part of the track to prevail by 2 1/2 lengths, in a time of 1:16.05.

Forester Survivor held on for second after honest fractions. The Reload gelding Candy Overload rallied wide from sixth to end up third over All Canadian, another son of Reload. Second choice Avoman outran favored Dragon’s Brew for fifth in the nine-horse field.

Trained by Rachel Halden, Red River Rebel finished third in his only other start against Ontario-sired maidens.

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“He ran real good his first start, but he did get a little tired,” Bahen said. “He came back and trained real good, so I knew he was good [for] today. He’s just learning now. I think he could be any kind of horse.”

Red River Rebel ($14.90) earned $60,000 for Denny Andrews and Northern Dawn Stables, the partnership that also bred the handsome gelding.