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.
War of Will, winner of the Lecomte and Risen Star Stakes, was installed as the 6-5-morning-line favorite when an 11-horse field was drawn Saturday for the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 23.
Half his rivals are familiar foes, having chased him unsuccessfully in the Feb. 16 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. They include runner-up Country House, third-place Roiland, fourth-place Hog Creek Hustle, fifth-place Limonite, and seventh-place Mr. Money.
With apologies to the late, great Ernie Banks, let’s race two.
A series of unfortunate events at Santa Anita has resulted in split divisions of the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes, with the upshot that the two colts listed as the top two choices on Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch list – Game Winner and Improbable – have traveled to Oaklawn for a blockbuster card on Saturday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The top Kentucky Derby prospects Game Winner and Improbable will lead separate divisions of the Grade 2 Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. The races are part of a program of four stakes that includes the Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri, which drew Elate, and the $350,000 Essex Handicap, led by Giant Expectations.
Four-time Louisiana Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher will probably have a chance to notch his fifth winner in the $1 million race March 23.
Fair Grounds racing officials reported Wednesday that Pletcher plans to start Spinoff, and Pletcher in a text message said there was a “good chance” Spinoff ships from Florida, pending his work Saturday at Palm Beach Downs.
