Coal Battle. (Coady Media)
Victory vaulted Coal Front colt to No. 1 on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 70 points
Robert Yates/Oaklawn Park
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Norman Stables’ Coal Battle parlayed an explosive move on the second turn into a 1 ¼-length victory over Madaket Road in Oaklawn’s 1 1/16-miles $1.25 million Rebel Stakes (G2) Sunday afternoon.
Before a season-high crowd (estimated at 36,000), Coal Battle remained perfect in five dirt starts and secured a spot in the Kentucky Derby with his fourth consecutive stakes victory.
The Rebel was Oaklawn’s third of four Kentucky Derby qualifying races and allotted 105 total points (50-25-15-10-5, respectively) to the top five finishers toward starting eligibility for the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Coal Battle’s victory vaulted him to No. 1 on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 70 points. The Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters. Coal Battle ($25.80) was making his first start since winning the $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes – Oaklawn’s first Kentucky Derby qualifying race – by four lengths Jan. 4. The Smarty Jones was also 1 1/16 miles.
Madaket Road, who took the 13-horse field through stout fractions of :22.47, :45.76 and 1:10.94 for six furlongs, finished a half-length ahead of late-running Sandman, the 5-2 favorite. Publisher, Tiztastic, Admiral Dennis, Hypnus, Brereton’s Baytown, Dreaminblue, Speed King, Hot Gunner, Innovator and Smoken Wicked completed the order of finish. Bullard (fever) was scratched.
Coal Battle’s winning time over a fast track was 1:43.01. Juan Vargas rode Coal Battle for trainer Lonnie Briley, who opted to skip the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) Jan. 25, which was Oaklawn’s second Kentucky Derby qualifying race.
Coal Battle set the pace in the Smarty Jones, but he came from well back after breaking from the rail in the Rebel.
The son of millionaire Oaklawn stakes winner Coal Front (2019 Razorback Handicap), Coal Battle was fifth, eight lengths behind Madaket Road, after a half-mile, before an electrifying move around horses on the second turn.
Coal Battle quickly challenged Madaket Road on the outside in the upper stretch and struck the front approaching the sixteenth pole. Coal Battle, under left-handed urging, began to edge way in the final yards.
Coal Battle won for the fifth time in seven starts to raise his lifetime earnings to $1,188,875.
A $70,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale purchase, Coal Battle races for Robert Norman, an Alabama grocery store executive. Briley said he’s trained for approximately 10 years for Norman. The Rebel was Coal Battle’s fourth stakes victory.
Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby qualifying series concludes with the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles March 29.
Sunday’s 12-race program was delayed one day after Oaklawn adjusted its racing schedule earlier in the week because of arctic temperatures.
REBEL QUOTES
Winning jockey Juan Vargas (Coal Battle): “My plan was just to follow the leaders. At the three-eighths pole, I began to move, and he just took off. He responded. I was so happy with that. I knew I had horse, but (Madaket Road) just kept running. Around the sixteenth pole, my horse started to put his neck in front, and I knew I had more horse today and he ran well to the finish line. It’s the best race he’s ever run. The field was stronger than his previous races, for sure. There were some nice horses, horses that can run. He showed that he can run, too.”
Winning trainer Lonnie Briley (Coal Battle): “He (Juan Vargas) had him in the perfect position because I was a little worried about the 1 hole and so many horses in the race. And we figured the speed would have went, but we didn’t won’t him to get too far back. So, he had him in perfect position and he moved him at the right time. I always give him (Coal Battle) a little three-eighths (work) before his race and it’s like that’s where he wants to be. He ran big. He opened up on the field and he caught the lead horse (Madaket Road) and went by him. What can I say? You couldn’t ask for more.”
Coal Battle came through in the Rebel! Great job Lonnie Briley, Juan Vargas, and connex! pic.twitter.com/puUcVX9eLI
— Sure Bet Coffee (@surebetcoffee) February 23, 2025
Second-place jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Madaket Road): “That was the plan (go to the lead). I was so close (to stealing it). He was running down the lane, but that other horse (Coal Battle) was coming. I’m happy. My horse ran a big race.”
Third-place jockey Cristian Torres (Sandman): “We had the trip we wanted. They were definitely flying around. They were rolling. He’s an easy horse to ride. I just put my hands down and let him do his thing. When I asked him, he was there for me. We had to go wide on the (second) turn because when we started making our move, the horses in front of me were just stopping. I had to go wide, but he made his move. He shows up every time. Definitely, the longer the better for him.”
10th-place jockey Rafael Bejarano (Speed King): “No excuses. The horse broke clean, beautiful. I knew those two horses (Madaket Road and Innovator) were going to go to the lead, so I tried to save ground. Took a hold a little bit to save a little bit of horse, but at the half-mile pole, they were going too fast. He kind of got tired a little bit in the end.”
