This weekend, Chad Brown figures to learn more about his prospects for this year’s Kentucky Derby. Not only as a trainer, but as a breeder.
On Saturday, Brown, the trainer, will send out Grade 1 winner Blazing Sevens in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and the maiden winner Uncorrelated in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham at Aqueduct.
Brown, the breeder, will be represented by Practical Move in the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe at Santa Anita.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – As a horse owner and avid horseplayer, Al Gold can sometimes be at odds with himself.
As the owner of Instant Coffee, Gold has a 3-year-old whose prospects for the Kentucky Derby appear to strengthen weekly as horses that Instant Coffee has beaten have come back to win. Most notably, Confidence Game, third behind Instant Coffee in the Lecomte on Jan. 21, came back to win last Saturday’s Grade 2 Rebel. Denington, fourth in the Lecomte, came back to win a Fair Grounds allowance on Feb. 18.
$1,000,000 Rebel Stakes, Feb. 25, 2023
(50 qualifying points for first, 20 for second, 15 for third, 10 for fourth, and 5 for fifth)
Winner: Confidence Game, by Candy Ride
Trainer: Keith Desormeaux
Jockey: James Graham
Owner: Don’t Tell My Wife Stable
Distance / time: 1 1/16 miles / 1:44.21 (sloppy, sealed)
Win margin: 1 length
Beyer: 94
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Confidence Game’s next stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby is to be determined, but the winner of the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel at Oaklawn Park on Saturday could return to Arkansas or run back at his home track of Fair Grounds, trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Sunday.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Confidence Game brought his ‘A’ game to the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, where he swung five-wide into the stretch and rolled home in front to secure 50 points for the Kentucky Derby.
Confidence Game won by length over Red Route One, while it was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third to Reincarnate. The runner-up and third place finisher earned a respective 20 and 15 points for the Kentucky Derby, while fourth-place finisher Verifying earned 10 and fifth-place finisher Bourbon Bash gained 5.
How Did He Do That must deal with Southern California shipper Henry Q and an improving Giroovin on Sunday, when he starts as the probable favorite in a competitive renewal of the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby at Sunland Park.
The race, which will be run over 1 1/16 miles, is the final local stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $600,000 Sunland Derby on March 26.
Sunday’s card has four stakes designed to produce starters for Sunland Derby Day. The $75,000 Island Fashion, for example, is a prep for the $300,000 Sunland Park Oaks.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Handicappers have their work cut out for them in the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. And so do the horses in the field of 11.
“It’s a deep group of 3-year-olds,” said trainer Brad Cox, who entered Verifying and Giant Mischief. “It’s probably one of the best preps we’ve had this year, top to bottom.”
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will saddle Bourbon Bash, said much the same about the 1 1/16-mile race that will award Kentucky Derby points to the first five finishers on a scale of 50-20-15-10-5.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Disarm and Shopper’s Revenge are both under serious consideration for major Kentucky Derby preps after running in separate allowance races last weekend at Oaklawn Park.
Trainer Steve Asmussen said Disarm is a candidate for the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 1 at Oaklawn. The son of Gun Runner launched his 3-year-old season Sunday with a runner-up finish in an entry-level allowance at a mile. The race was his first at two turns and his first since August, when he rolled by 6 1/4 lengths in a maiden special weight at Saratoga.
The three-time stakes winner One in Vermillion will be a longshot in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 4 at Santa Anita, if he is allowed on the property of the Southern California track.
One in Vermillion is part of trainer Esteban Martinez’s 15-horse stable at Turf Paradise in Phoenix. On Sunday, Santa Anita officials announced that no horses from Turf Paradise are allowed on the grounds after a pony horse at that track tested positive for equine herpesvirus.
