Road to the Kentucky Derby: 2021 Rebel Stakes
The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues on Saturday with the $1 million Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The Grade II race headlines a 12-race card that includes five stakes. The 1 1/16 mile Rebel drew eight runners with Caddo River (9-5) and Concert Tour (2-1) the opening morning line favorites.
Last month, Essential Quality won the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, and he’ll some of the Rebel Stakes runners in the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 10.
Rebel Stakes
The Rebel Stakes is restricted to 3-year-olds, and the top four finishers receive Kentucky Derby qualifying points (50-20-10-5). The winner earns enough points to run in the May 1 Kentucky Derby.
Saturday, March 13, 2021. Post, odds, jockey, trainer. Race 11 with post time 6:16 p.m. EST.
1 – Caddo River (9-5)
- Jockey: Florent Geroux
- Trainer: Brad Cox
2 – Big Lake (12-1)
- Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.
- Trainer: Steve Asmussen
3 – Hozier (12-1)
- Jockey: Martin Garcia
- Trainer: Bob Baffert
4 – Get Her Number (8-1)
- Jockey: Javier Castellano
- Trainer: Peter Miller
5 – Twilight Blue (15-1)
- Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
- Trainer: Joe Sharp
6 – Keepmeinmind (4-1)
- Jockey: David Cohen
- Trainer: Robertino Diodoro
7 – Concert Tour (2-1)
- Jockey: Joel Rosario
- Trainer: Bob Baffert
8 – Super Stock (6-1)
- Jockey: Joe Talamo
- Trainer: Steve Asmussen
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Race contender profiles, including Caddo River and Concert Tour
Caddo River won the Smarty Jones Stakes in January to open the Oaklawn meet. He crushed the field by 10 lengths, racing one mile as the favorite with a 101 Equibase Speed Figure (ESF), and has not raced since. The Brad Cox-trained son of 2007 Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun has two wins and two runner-up finishes in four starts. Caddo River will face a stronger group in the Rebel.
That includes West Coast invader Concert Tour, who is 2 for 2 after his 7-furlong win of the San Vicente Stakes (G2) in early February. Both races were as a sophomore for trainer Bob Baffert, who also has Hozier in the race, making his stakes debut off his maiden win. Hozier finished fourth, well behind winner Concert Tour, in each colt’s debut in January. Baffert is shooting for his eighth Rebel win, and Concert Tour has posted the fastest speed rating, with a 106, in the San Vicente. Both runners have posted bullet-best recent works and are improving.
Keepmeinmind has finished in the money in all four starts and was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with his career-best ESF of 98. He has not raced since Thanksgiving weekend, when he won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2).
Get Her Number makes his 2021 debut and is 2 for 3. He’s been off since September, when he won the Grade I American Pharoah Stakes, and now makes his first start outside of California.
Super Stock is the other runner with single-digit odds, and he’s trained by Steve Asmussen, along with Big Lake, who makes his stakes debut. Super Stock raced six times last year and hit the board in the last five. That includes a third-place finish in the Grade I Claiborne Futurity, just behind big long-shot runner-up Keepmeinmind. Super Stock last raced at the end of October and was a close runner-up as the favorite with his best speed figure of 93 in the Street Sense Stakes.
The Rebel is the last of this year’s Kentucky Derby preps that is worth 50 qualifying points to the winner. There are eight remaining major Derby preps that award 100 points to the winner and 40 to the runner-up, so many 3-year-olds will be earning their way into the Kentucky Derby field over the next month.
