An Oaklawn Park official made the definitive comment after a historic Saturday of racing at the track:
"We almost had three Rebel winners."
The first Rebel Stakes split into two divisions produced upset winners in races decided by a neck and a nose before an estimated crowd of 45,500. Omaha Beach handed champion Game Winner the first defeat of his career by the narrowest of margins after Arkansas-owned Long Range Toddy did the same to Improbable.
Thus did Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert suffer not one, but two agonizing defeats over the track that he won the Rebel six times in a decade. He has dominated Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby preps.
The second division almost resulted in the first dead-heat winners in the Rebel's 71-year history. The first nose winner of the Rebel since Mystery Storm in 1995, Omaha Beach held off a gallant Game Winner, whose 4-for-4 record included last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Giving Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith his second stakes win on the 11-race card, Omaha Beach challenged for the lead and had enough in reserve.
Trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, Omaha Beach parlayed the recent edge he derived from his Feb. 2 maiden victory at Santa Anita. Game Winner had not raced since capping his championship season in the BC Juvenile Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. Game Winner's 3-year-old debut was delayed a week after Santa Anita, citing an impending weather threat and uncertain track conditions, canceled racing March 6.
Oaklawn president Louis Cella responded to the California crisis by splitting the Rebel, previously $1 million, into two divisions worth $750,000 each. Omaha Beach and the Baffert pair were among the horses flying into Hot Springs during Rebel week.
Baffert, reached in California, said, "I would have liked to have won, but I'm very happy with both horses. They both ran well off the layoff. Thank goodness for the Cella family. We got to run both horses today. It was great racing."
Baffert told Fox Sports reporter Laffit Pincay that Game Winner will be pointed toward the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby April 6, which the Hall of Famer captured last year with future Triple Crown winner Justify. Live racing at the Arcadia, Calif., track is expected to resume March 29 after a two-week stoppage in the wake of 22 equine deaths during racing or training since the current meet opened Dec. 26.
Improbable, said Baffert, is likely for Oaklawn's April 13 running of the Grade 1 $1 million Arkansas Derby, which offers 100 points for qualifying to the May 4 Kentucky Derby. With Churchill Downs limiting the Kentucky Derby to 20 starters, Game Winner (45) is sixth and Improbable ninth in points (25) after the Rebel.
Long Range Toddy, scoring in a fourth consecutive stakes race, moved to third place in points (53.5) with Omaha Beach checking in seventh (37.5).
Switching to veteran Jon Court made the absolute difference for Long Range Toddy, second and third in Oaklawn stakes (though by close margins) after winning the Springboard Mile and another stake at Oklahoma's Remington Park.
A Take Charge Indy colt owned by Willis Horton, of Marshall, Long Range Toddy finished full of run after Court wisely took him back early. Improbable was wide on both turns under Drayden Van Dyke but led into the stretch before Court came flying with Long Range Toddy to win the second Rebel for himself and Horton.
"I was able to get settled and hoped I had left enough for a big punch. I also hope I hadn't let (Improbable) get too far in front," Court, 58, said. "Believe me, I was sweating bullets, but I had a lot of confidence in him. I had watched his races and I had worked him before the race. It's great when a plan comes together as well as this one did."
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen won his fourth Rebel, the first since Curlin in 2007. Oaklawn's nine-time training champion has three Arkansas Derby winners, most recently Creator in 2016. Court won Oaklawn's oldest race (dating to 1936) in 2010 with Line of David for trainer John Sadler and Archarcharch in 2011 for trainer and father-in-law Jinks Fires.
"Jon gave him a beautiful trip today, and I love how he earned it late," said Asmussen, whose first of three Oaklawn victories Saturday came with 4-year-old filly Midnight Bisou in the Grade 2 Azeri. "The horse is extremely kind. Jon worked him the other day, and his comment was that he was push-button.
"The horse was away well and got a good spot," Asmussen said. "They went about their business, and he relaxed down the backstretch. You could tell coming into the stretch he was loaded. He waited until they all lined out, didn't waste any ground, and wheeled him out late, like he should, and got rewarded for it."
Sports on 03/18/2019