WHO’S HOT

NEW ORLEANS – Bill Mott knows every inch of Churchill Downs. It’s where he rose to prominence in a career that sent him to the Hall of Fame at age 45 as the youngest trainer ever inducted. It’s where, in 1986, he became the track’s winningest trainer, a position he held for 31 years until local hero Dale Romans passed him.

Country House Lookin At Lucky - Quake Lake, by War Chant

Bred in Kentucky by J.V. Shields, Jr.

Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes (second division), 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn Park, March 16, 2019
(37.5 Derby qualifying points for a win, 15 for second, 7.5 for third, 3.75 for fourth)

Winner: Omaha Beach, by War Front
Trainer: Richard Mandella
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: Fox Hill Farms Inc.
Beyer Speed Figure: 96

Mucho Gusto will break from the rail in a field of 10 for the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby on March 24. He was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite during a ceremonial draw of post positions Sunday at Sunland Park in New Mexico.

The Sunland Derby will reward its first four finishers with Kentucky Derby eligibility points on a sliding scale of 50-20-10-5. The 1 1/8-mile race also anchors a 12-race program at Sunland. There are seven stakes on the card worth a cumulative $1.5 million.

Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes (first division), 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn Park, March 16, 2019
(37.5 Derby qualifying points for a win, 15 for second, 7.5 for third, 3.75 for fourth)

Winner: Long Range Toddy, Take Charge Indy
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Jockey: Jon Court
Owner: Willis Horton Racing LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 95

Omaha Beach and Long Range Toddy, who won divisions of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on Saturday, both emerged from their races in good order, and it is not impossible that they could face one another next time in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 13.

It’s been a rough few months for our sport – the sport we love. And some of the blows have come from quarters one would hope would know better. I mean, a major racetrack owner legitimizing PETA, whose stated mission is to end horse racing? Seriously?

But just when you’re about to start praying that things won’t get any more troubling and bizarre, events occur to remind you of all that is great about our game. And such a major reset occurred Saturday in the second division of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.

Omaha Beach always has been held in high regard by trainer Richard Mandella, but it took awhile for the War Front colt to figure it out.

He’s caught on.

After losing his first four starts, three of them runner-up finishes by a half-length or less, Omaha Beach powered his way to a runaway win against maidens in his fifth start last month at Santa Anita. And, on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, he showed how far he had come this year by nosing out champion Game Winner in a terrific, second division of the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds.

A quartet of horses from Southern California invaded Oaklawn Park for the first division of the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes on Saturday, but it was Long Range Toddy who stuck up for the home team by running down heavily favored Improbable in deep stretch to score an 8-1 upset.