The Rebel Stakes is this weekend’s stop on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, offering 50 points and the lion’s share of a $900,000 purse to the winner. The race has attracted horses from California and Florida as well as locally-based runners. Read on for the scoop on all 11 entrants and the race itself.
Race details
Saturday at Oaklawn Park
Post time: 7:06 p.m. ET, televised on TVG
The Grade 2 Rebel Stakes has been run annually at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., since 1961. The race is for 3-year-olds competing at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt and offers 85 Kentucky Derby points: 50 for first, 20 for second, 10 for third and five for fourth.
1. Silver Bullion
Jockey: Ramon Vazquez
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Owner: Calumet Farm
Career record: 3 starts - 1 win - 1 second - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $61,600
Earnings per start: $20,533
Pedigree: Pioneerof the Nile – Love Buzz, by Silver Charm
Color: Gray or roan
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Silver Bullion races for Calumet Farm, an historic racing and breeding operation now owned by billionaire Brad Kelley. His Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won the Rebel twice, most recently with champion 3-year-old Will Take Charge in 2013. Silver Bullion will be making his stakes debut in the Rebel after winning his second start and finishing second in an allowance in his third try.
2. Uncontested
Jockey: Channing Hill
Trainer: Wayne Catalano
Owner: Robert LaPenta and Harry Rosenblum
Career record: 4 starts - 2 wins - 0 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $136,729
Earnings per start: $34,182
Pedigree: Tiz Wonderful – Galileo’s Star, by Lil E. Tee
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Pacesetter
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Uncontested won the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn in January but tired to finish sixth in the Southwest Stakes. The $20,000 auction purchase is co-owned by businessmen Robert LaPenta and Harry Rosenblum, who is named for his godfather, President Harry S. Truman. LaPenta and Rosenblum partnered on Oaklawn stakes performers Far Right and Whitmore, who ran in the Kentucky Derby in 2015 and 2016.
3. Sonneteer
Jockey: Richard Eramia
Trainer: Keith Desormeaux
Owner: Calumet Farm
Career record: 8 starts - 0 wins - 3 seconds - 2 thirds
Career earnings: $54,445
Earnings per start: $6,806
Pedigree: Midnight Lute – Ours, by Half Ours
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Sonneteer is one of two horses in the Rebel owned by Calumet Farm. He has not yet won a race but finished second in his most recent try for trainer Keith Desormeaux, and before that finished third behind highly regarded Reach the World. Sonneteer and Keith Desormeaux are based at Santa Anita Park in California.
4. Petrov
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Trainer: Ron Moquett
Owner: Rialto Racing Stables, Southern Springs Stables and Sol Kumin
Career record: 4 starts - 1 win - 3 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $184,800
Earnings per start: $46,200
Pedigree: Flatter – Saracina, by Bertrando
Color: Gray or roan
Running style: Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Petrov won his first career start and has competed exclusively in stakes races since, finishing second three times, including the Smarty Jones Stakes and the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Trainer Ron Moquett is based at Oaklawn and has had Oaklawn-based horses in the Kentucky Derby the last two years. Owner Sol Kumin bought a 25 percent share of the horse just this week.
5. Untrapped
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Owner: Michael Langford
Career record: 4 starts - 1 win - 3 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $166,800
Earnings per start: $41,700
Pedigree: Trappe Shot – Exit Three, by Giant’s Causeway
Color: Dark bay or brown
Running style: Stalker/closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Untrapped has never finished worse than second in his four career starts and will be racing at Oaklawn for the first time Saturday, having most recently finished second in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Owner Michael Langford bought the colt for $125,000 as a 2-year-old. Trainer Steve Asmussen also has Lookin At Lee running in this race.
6. Malagacy
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Owner: Sumaya U.S. Stable
Career record: 2 starts - 2 wins - 0 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $46,800
Earnings per start: $23,400
Pedigree: Shackleford – Classiest Gem, by Dehere
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Pacesetter/Stalker
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Malagacy has been impressive in both of his career starts, winning his debut by 15 lengths and his second start by seven. He ships in from Gulfstream Park in Florida to run here for perennial Derby trail power trainer Todd Pletcher. The son of 2011 Preakness Stakes winner Shackleford races for Sumaya U.S. Stable, the racing operation of Oussama Aboughazale, a Chilean agriculture magnate whose family is the majority shareholder of the fresh produce division of Del Monte Fruit Company.
7. American Anthem
Jockey: Mike Smith
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Owner: WinStar Farm, S F Bloodstock and China Horse Club
Career record: 2 starts - 1 win - 1 second - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $51,200
Earnings per start: $25,600
Pedigree: Bodemeister – Indy’s Windy, by A.P. Indy
Color: Bay
Running style: Stalker/pacesetter
Notable achievements and interesting facts: American Anthem ships in from California for trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Rebel a record six times. All of his wins came in the last seven years, including with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015. American Anthem is lightly raced, with one win and a runner-up finish from two starts, after being purchased for $435,000 as a 2-year-old. He’s a son of Bodemeister, who finished second in the 2012 Kentucky Derby for Baffert.
8. Silver Dust
Jockey: Corey Lanerie
Trainer: Randy Morse
Owner: Tom Durant
Career record: 3 starts - 1 win - 0 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $61,540
Earnings per start: $20,513
Pedigree: Tapit – Filare l’Oro, by Hard Spun
Color: Gray or roan
Running style: Closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Silver Dust was a $510,000 purchase as a 2-year-old and is a son of top sire Tapit. Though he has just one win from his three starts, he did finish fourth in the Southwest Stakes last month in his stakes debut. Owner Tom Durant tied for fifth in wins during the Oaklawn Park meet last year, but like trainer Randy Morse and jockey Corey Lanerie he is looking for his first Rebel Stakes win.
9. Appalachian Gem
Jockey: Gary Stevens
Trainer: Jack Van Berg
Owner: Mark DeDomenico
Career record: 3 starts - 1 win - 0 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $54,000
Earnings per start: $18,000
Pedigree: Gemologist – Briar Hill Dixie, by Dixieland Band
Color: Chestnut
Running style: Stalker/closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Appalachian Gem broke his maiden in his third try and here tries stakes company for the first time. Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens has just returned from hip replacement surgery at the age of 54, while Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg is 80 and is looking for his first graded stakes win since 1995. Appalachian Gem was a $90,000 purchase as a 2-year-old in training.
10. Royal Mo
Jockey: Victor Espinoza
Trainer: John Shirreffs
Owner: Jerry and Ann Moss
Career record: 4 starts - 2 wins - 2 seconds - 0 thirds
Career earnings: $144,200
Earnings per start: $36,050
Pedigree: Uncle Mo – Royal Irish Lass, by Saint Ballado
Color: Bay
Running style: Pacesetter
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Royal Mo broke his maiden in his third start and rolled to a 3 ½ length victory in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in his fourth, earning 10 Kentucky Derby points. Royal Mo is a son of Uncle Mo, 2010 champion 2-year-old and sire of last year’s Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. Royal Mo’s trainer John Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss are best known for partnering to campaign 2010 Horse of the Year and fan favorite Zenyatta. Jockey Victor Espinoza won the Rebel in 2015 with American Pharoah.
11. Lookin At Lee
Coady Photography
Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Owner: L and N Racing
Career record: 7 starts - 2 wins - 2 seconds - 1 third
Career earnings: $349,795
Earnings per start: $49,971
Pedigree: Lookin at Lucky – Langara Lass, by Langfuhr
Color: Bay
Running style: Closer
Notable achievements and interesting facts: Lookin At Lee broke his maiden in his second try and made his third start in a stakes at Ellis Park, which he won. He finished second in a pair of graded stakes before a fourth-place finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile as the third-longest price in the field of 11. He finished third in the local prep for the Rebel, the Southwest Stakes, and is trained by Oaklawn regular Steve Asmussen.
