Throughout the opening stages of the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby, Coal Battle has been recognized as a “feel-good” story of small-time connections aiming for an invite to the big dance at Churchill Downs.
That story changed drastically in the $1.25 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park Feb. 23 when Coal Battle elevated himself from simply a feel-good story to an undeniable threat to wear the garland of roses May 3.
Breaking from the rail in a 13-horse field, a position that concerned Louisiana-based trainer Lonnie Briley, Coal Battle eased his conditioner’s mind in stellar fashion when he drew clear for a 1 1/4-length victory in the Rebel Stakes to earn his fourth consecutive win.
A third victory on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail earned the colt an additional 50 qualifying points, placing Coal Battle in first place on the leaderboard with 70 points. The remainder of the top 5 earned points on a 25-15-10-5 scale.
With Coal Battle having to break from the inside path, jockey Juan Vargas eased his mount several lengths off the pace as Bob Baffert-trained Madaket Road sped away on the lead and took three pursuers with him.
It was 24 1/4 lengths from first to last after the opening quarter mile, the field well strung out as Madaket Road blazed through fractions of :22.47 and :45.72.
After a half-mile, Coal Battle was fifth, eight lengths behind—a disadvantageous position based off the day’s trends. In four earlier 1 1/16 mile races on the Oaklawn card, no winner had closed from more than two lengths behind. In fact, three of those races saw the top three finishers travel in the top three spots from gate-to-wire. The fourth race saw the top two do the same.
Coal Battle, who in his Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes victory was on the pace from the start, proved to be no ordinary horse as he used his versatility to make an early move approaching the three-eighths pole and kick past the tiring pace pursuers. With only Madaket Road to catch, Vargas prepped his colt for battle and took command entering the stretch.
Madaket Road battled valiantly, but by the sixteenth pole it was clear whose day it would be. Coal Battle, carrying five pounds more than his rival, broke free and hit the wire handily in front. He stopped the clock in 1:43.01 and paid $25.80 to win. The remainder of the pace attendees had retreated to the back of the pack while closers Sandman and Publisher rounded out the superfecta.
Coal Battle wins the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park
“(Vargas) had him in the perfect position. We figured the speed would’ve went, but we didn’t want to be too far back. He had him in perfect position and he moved him at the right time,” Briley said. “He ran big. … What can I say? I couldn’t ask for more.”
The winner’s purse more than doubled Coal Battle’s career earnings, elevating the colt to millionaire status with $1,188,875 in the bank—more than enough justification for owner Robbie Norman’s faith in Briley when the trainer selected the colt for $70,000 at the 2023 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale.
JOHNSON: Coal Battle Takes Connections on Exciting Ride
Bred in Kentucky by Hume Wornall and Jay Adcock, Coal Battle is the first graded stakes winner for sire Coal Front , who stands his first season at Louisiana’s Red River Farm in 2025 for a $2,000 fee. Although his spot in the Kentucky Derby starting gate is clinched, there is still one more stop on the schedule: the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) March 29.
“We plan on going to the Arkansas Derby, give him one more chance (before the Kentucky Derby),” Briley said. “I know they’re going to run at him hard.”
