Southwest top five reunite in $1 million Rebel

Feb 21, 2022 Vance Hanson/Brisnet.com

Saturday's $1 million Rebel S. (G1) at Oaklawn Park, which attracted a field
of 11 three-year-olds to go 1 1/16 miles, looks like it could be dominated by
the first five across the wire in last month's Southwest (G3) over the same
track and distance.

Newgrange maintained his undefeated record in the Southwest, winning
by 1 1/2 lengths as the 3-2 favorite. The son of Violence broke from post 10 in
the Southwest, but drew inside for the Rebel and will break from post 2 under
John Velazquez. Newgrange is trained by Bob Baffert, who's won the Rebel eight
times since 2010, including the last two editions with Concert Tour (2021) and
Nadal (2020).

Looking to reverse form are Barber Road, Ben Diesel, Kavod,
and Dash Attack, the respective second- through fifth-place finishers in
the Southwest. This marks the third consecutive meeting between the quartet, who
previously met in the one-mile Smarty Jones S. on New Year's Day.

Victorious in the Smarty Jones was Dash Attack, who won his first two starts
on off tracks but might not have been so keen about the faster going in the
Southwest

“The track was pretty cuppy and deep and I think that really affected him,'jockey David Cohen said of Newgrange. 'But I thought he did run a good race. He
made a good move and he was up there, up until the sixteenth pole, just that
last 50 yards or whatever. But I think the cuppiness and the deepness of the
track seemed to get to him.

'His first two races, it was a much tighter track. Even though it was a wet
track, it was still a tighter track. I think that's something he wasn't used
to.'

Barber Road was runner-up in the Smarty Jones, too, with Kavod fourth and Ben
Diesel seventh.

Chasing Time makes his stakes debut Saturday for four-time
Rebel-winning trainer Steve Asmussen following a 7 3/4-length allowance win at
Oaklawn last month. Asmussen also saddles Stellar Tap, who provided the
trainer with his North American record-setting 9,446th victory last summer.
However, the Tapit colt is winless in three starts since.

Jumping up more in class off a big win is the D. Wayne Lukas-trained
Ethereal Road, who posted a four-length maiden score in late January. Lukas
has won the Rebel twice, most recently with Will Take Charge in 2013.

Also entered in the Rebel are Withers (G3) runner-up Un Ojo and
Texas Red Hot, recently 10th in a key edition of the Kentucky Jockey Club
(G2).

The Rebel offers Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying points of 50-20-10-5
to the top four finishers, though Newgrange is not eligible to accrue any points
due to Baffert's current suspension from racing at Churchill Downs.

The Rebel post time is 6:22 p.m. ET. It can be watched and wagered on at
TwinSpires.com.

Earlier in the card, Secret Oath figures as an odds-on choice in the $300,000 Honeybee S. (G3) for three-year-old fillies. Also held at 1 1/16 miles, the Honeybee offers Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifying points of 50-20-10-5 to the respective top four finishers.

Secret Oath has been a blowout winner of two starts at Oaklawn this winter, including a 7 1/4-length score over Optionality in the Martha Washington S. last month as a 1-2 favorite.

Also among the field are six are Golden Rod (G2) runner-up Yuugiri and Free Like a Girl, already a five-time stakes winner, primarily in the Louisiana-bred ranks.

Post time for the Honeybee is 3:10 p.m. ET.