Photo:

Eclipse Sportswire

Coal Battle made a decisive charge in the second turn,
collared pacesetter Madaket Road in the homestretch and dug in for a 1
1/4-length triumph Sunday in the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel Stakes at
Oaklawn.

The victory in the 1 1/16-mile race assured the Coal Front colt owned by Norman
Stables and trained by 72-year-old Lonnie Briley of a place in Kentucky Derby
2025 on May 3.

Click here for Oaklawn entries and results.

Even though he finished first in the Southwest (G3) over the
same course and distance last month to run his winning streak to three races,
Coal Battle (11-1) was sent off as a long shot in the field of 13 3-year-olds.
Jockey Juan Vargas kept him in mid-pack while Bob Baffert-trained Madaket Road
(5-1) took the field through early fractions of 22.47 and 45.72 seconds.

Madaket Road still led through three-quarters of a mile in
1:10.94, but Coal Battle was coming. He was second racing through the far turn
before getting on even terms with Madaket Road and his jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. at
the top of the stretch.

With Coal Battle racing in the two path and Madaket Road on the inside, the two
of them went eyeball to eyeball until the eighth pole. That was where Coal
Battle, who went the first mile in 1:36.44, drew away for the victory with a
final time of 1:43.01 on the fast main track.

Coal Battle held on for second. Post-time favorite Sandman (5-2) closed from mid-pack to take third. Publisher (11-1) finished fourth and Tiztastic (5-1) fifth. The top five finishers earned 50-25-15-10-5 points toward qualifying for
the Kentucky Derby.

Coal Battle paid $25.80, $12.00 and $6.40; Madaket Road $7.60 and $4.80; and Sandman $3.20.

Sired by Coal Front, Coal Battle was a $70,000 purchase at
the Texas Thoroughbred Association yearling sale in 2023. He raised his record
to 7: 5-0-0, his earnings with the $735,000 first prize to $1,188,875 and his Derby qualifying points to 70, tops on the leaderboard.

This story will be updated.