By Joe Bianca
Due to its large purse and the increasing popularity of the Arkansas 3-year-old prep schedule, the Grade II, $900,000 Rebel S. was bound to be a race with significant impact for the GI Kentucky Derby. A rash of recent injuries and poor performances by highly regarded colts, however, has left a much murkier hierarchy in the division, and a fascinating group of 11 sophomores will contest the 1 1/16 miles of the Rebel, each looking for a definitive breakout performance in a crop suddenly littered with question marks.
The race's headliner and morning line favorite is American Anthem (Bodemeister). Owned by the partnership of WinStar Farm, S F Bloodstock and China Horse Club, the $435,000 OBS March buy won at first asking Dec. 3 at Del Mar, beating a field that included four return winners, including GII San Vicente S. victor Iliad (Ghostzapper) and California Derby hero So Conflated (Eskendereya). He followed that with a narrow, game second to the more seasoned Grade I winner Gormley (Malibu Moon) in the sloppy GIII Sham S. Jan. 7 at Santa Anita. Ranked third in the most recent WinStar TDN Derby Top Twelve, American Anthem is trained by Bob Baffert, who has won a record six of the past seven renewals of the Rebel.
“This is a nice horse and he's had two great races, so this will be a good race for him,” Baffert told the Oaklawn Park notes team. “He's a bigger version of Bodemeister. Like father, like son. Actually, that's caused him to pick up a lot of added pressure. We're excited about him and he's trained really well for this race. Hopefully, he'll run well. But, we still need racing luck. I hope when we turn for home, he's there.”
American Anthem shows a string of strong workouts for this first engagement in 10 weeks, capped off by a six-furlong bullet in 1:11 3/5 (1/15) Mar. 11 at Santa Anita.
A pair of fleet-footed 'TDN Rising Stars' inject plenty of early speed, creating the potential for a pace meltdown should they go after each other. Malagacy (Shackleford) was a no-brainer Rising Star call after blowing away the competition in a 15-length debut rout Jan. 4 at Gulfstream. The chestnut, owned by Sumaya US Stables and trained by Todd Pletcher, legitimized that effort with a seven-length allowance/optional claiming romp in Hallandale Feb. 12. The Rebel will be Malagacy's first two-turn test.
“Malagacy is a surprisingly nice horse and it's nice to have those,” Pletcher assistant Adele Bellinger said. “He's always done everything right, but that first race was a 'wow' race. He hasn't gone that far yet, but he hasn't showed any desire to slow down. I think this will be a very telling race. We're excited about him.”
Malagacy likely will have to grapple with Harry Rosenblum and Bob LaPenta's Uncontested (Tiz Wonderful), who backed up his Rising Star nod with a blowout victory in the local Smarty Jones S. Jan. 16. The dark bay, trained by Wayne Catalano, will look to rebound after finishing a disappointing sixth as the 11-10 favorite in the GIII Southwest S. Feb. 20.
Jerry and Ann Moss's Royal Mo (Uncle Mo) will try to compensate for a letdown performance from stablemate Gormley, who finished a distant fourth in the GII San Felipe S. last Saturday. The bay, sitting 11th in the Derby Twelve, captured his stakes debut with a 3 1/2-length tally in the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. Feb. 4 at Santa Anita.
The second, third and fourth-place finishers from the Southwest are back for another go-around in the Rebel. Petrov (Flatter), clearly second-best to One Liner (Into Mischief) that day, is looking for his first stakes victory after three straight black-type runner-up finishes. Late runners Lookin At Lee (Lookin At Lucky) and Silver Dust (Tapit), third and fourth in the Southwest respectively, would benefit if the expected fast pace materializes.
Michael Langford's Rising Star Untrapped (Trappe Shot) makes his local debut after running second in both the GIII Lecomte S. and GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds.
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