A field of 13 3-year-old colts signed on for the 1 1/16-mile challenge and the chance at 50 points towards a virtually guaranteed spot in the Kentucky Derby 2025 starting gate. California shipper Bullard, trained by Mike McCarthy for West Point Thoroughbreds, developed a fever and will not race.

TV coverage of the Rebel may be found on FanDuel TV and FS2. Post time is 6:23 p.m. EST.

Check out Horse Racing Nation’s free past performances page for downloadable PPs for the Rebel and five more stakes at Oaklawn courtesy of Brisnet. 

Don’t forget Super Screener analysis and wagering strategies for Rebel day at Oaklawn. He has a 25-1 top play in the Razorback and goes in-depth on the Rebel contenders.

Best speed figures

Pace projection

TimeformUS predicts a swift pace set by Southwest winner no. 11 Speed King. No. 8 Innovator and no. 9 Smoken Wicked also look to be fast early, and either one could turn up the heat on Speed King, who got an uncontested lead in the Southwest. No. 4 maiden winner Hypnus and no. 14 Hot Gunner are the noted deep closers in the field.

HRN picks

Ed DeRosa predicts another weekend of big balloon payouts with the 13-horse field in the Rebel, which appears to have an evenly matched group. 

“So who are the potential long shots to like?” DeRosa said. “Dreaminblue is 15-1 morning line and is better than that to my eye. His lone two-turn attempt was in a short-stretch race at Oaklawn and really had no kick after chasing a fast pace four wide from post 10. He then could not corral Innovator on the cutback before drawing out last out. I don’t know whether he wants to go much farther than these 8 1/2 furlongs, but he will get a nice setup here.”

Get his analysis of the morning-line favorites, the West Coast shippers and more in his fair-odds story.

Head to Head and more

Laurie Ross and Ashley Tamulonis land on a similar set of win contenders and agree one one 20-1 long shot in the Rebel. See their complete analysis.

Coal Battle’s trainer Lonnie Briley talks about his career, his colt and his affinity for knowing horses inside out. Literally. He is on the Ron Flatter Racing Pod.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last start	Morn. line
1		Coal Battle Coal Front	6.48	Lonnie Briley Juan Vargas	1st, 2025 Smarty Jones	10-1
Last race		1st, 2025 Smarty Jones
2		Admiral Dennis Constitution	6.05	Brad Cox Florent Géroux	1st, FG Alw OC (1/20/25-R7)	12-1
Last race		1st, FG Alw OC (1/20/25-R7)
3		Sandman Tapit	6.59	Mark Casse Cristian Torres	2nd, 2025 Southwest Stakes G3	4-1
Last race		2nd, 2025 Southwest G3
4		Hypnus Into Mischief	4.79	Kenny McPeek Brian Hernandez Jr.	1st, FG MSW (1/18/25-R7)	10-1
Last race		1st, FG MSW (1/18/25-R7)
5		Madaket Road Quality Road	6.17	Bob Baffert Irad Ortiz Jr.	3rd, 2025 Robert B. Lewis G3	9-2
Last race		3rd, 2025 Robert B. Lewis G3
6		Publisher American Pharoah	0.00	Steve Asmussen Flavien Prat	6th, 2025 Southwest G3	20-1
Last race		6th, 2025 Southwest G3
7		Dreaminblue Street Boss	0.00	Randy Morse Francisco Arrieta	1st, OP MSW (1/25/25-R11)	15-1
Last race		1st, OP MSW (1/25/25-R11)
8		Innovator Authentic	6.26	D. Wayne Lukas Tyler Bacon	3rd, 2025 Lecomte G3	15-1
Last race		3rd, 2025 Lecomte G3
9		Smoken Wicked Bobby’s Wicked One	6.21	Dallas Stewart Tyler Gaffalione	1st, Louisiana Futurity	8-1
Last race		1st, Louisiana Futurity
scr		Bullard Gun Runner	6.40	Michael McCarthy	3rd, 2025 San Vicente G2
Last race		3rd, 2025 San Vicente G2
11		Speed King Volatile	6.77	Ron Moquett Rafael Bejarano	1st, 2025 Southwest G3	6-1
Last race		1st, 2025 Southwest G3
12		Brereton’s Baytown Upstart	0.00	Paul McEntee Joseph Bealmear	1st, Lrl CLM (2/1/25-R3)	50-1
Last race		1st, Lrl CLM (2/1/25-R3)
13		Tiztastic Tiz the Law	6.67	Steve Asmussen José Ortiz	3rd, 2025 Southwest G3	8-1
Last race		3rd, 2025 Southwest G3
14		Hot Gunner Exaggerator	0.00	Scott Young Harry Hernández	1st, HOU ALW (1/19/2025-R5)	50-1
Last race		1st, HOU ALW (1/19/2025-R5)