Oaklawn's indoor paddock caused more problems for the Rebel Stakes winner than track conditions Saturday.
Not the first horse to feel claustrophobic before saddling therein, Confidence Game lowered his own stress level and that of his connections in time to become a Kentucky Derby contender. A four-wide move on the far turn carried him home by one length in the Grade 2 $1 million Rebel before an estimated 42,000 spectators.
"He's happy," Keith Desormeaux said Sunday before shipping Candy Ride's son back to the trainer's winter base in New Orleans. "He looks a lot more calm and happy than he was in that damn paddock."
Desormeaux did not rule out an Oaklawn return for the Grade 1 $1.25 million Arkansas Derby April 1, offering 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner. In case you're wondering, final saddling, weather permitting, will be in public on the infield. Fair Grounds shipper Cyberknife won the Derby last year for trainer Brad Cox, whose favored Verifying and Giant Mischief were among those Confidence Game beat.
"For sure, TBA -- depending on how he returns and it will give us a couple weeks to let him rest and see how he bounces back, but all options are open," said Desormeaux, a native Louisianan whose brother, jockey Kent, has three Kentucky Derby victories in a Hall of Fame career.
"It could be in Arkansas, Louisiana, maybe even the Blue Grass (Kentucky)," the trainer continued, adding that Confidence Game emerged from the race in good order. "Obviously, with our success here and the way we were treated, our first option is going to be the Arkansas Derby."
Confidence Game, a two-time winner at Churchill Downs, site of the May 6 Kentucky Derby, was the talk of the town Sunday, in contrast to the toteboard brushoff he received Saturday. Jockey James Graham brought his mount off a lethal 46.19-second half-mile and pulled away for a $39 mutuel payoff. He thus leads the Kentucky Derby standings with 57 points, last time running third to Cox-trained Instant Coffee in the Grade 3 LeComte at Fair Grounds.
Confidence Game handled sloppy conditions with the flair of Desormeaux' 2016 Preakness winner Exaggerator, thus making his first off-track start more notable. He received a preliminary Beyer Speed figure of 94, a career high, after clocking a mile and sixteenth in 1:44.21.
"Everything worked in his favor," Desormeaux said. "I was telling the ownership group last night that I've watched races there for two days and that pace was about two seconds faster than anything I had seen. So, it set up great for him. I don't know how many people buy into this, but as far as the pedigree was concerned (Confidence Game's sire was unbeaten and his dam is by Preakness winner Bernardini), as far as propensity for the off track, he had the highest number. The off track probably helped us. Perfect trip. Here we are."
Kirk Godby's Don't Tell My Wife Stables owns the Rebel winner, who fetched $25,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling and has blossomed into a $785,625 earner.
Red Route One finished second, as in the Grade 3 Southwest Jan. 28 at the same distance, with another strong stretch kick. Trainer Steve Asmussen, winner of more than 10,000 races but 0-for-24 in the Kentucky Derby, knows what he has in this late-runner, who trailed by 18 lengths after a half-mile Saturday. The Louisiana Derby's mile-and-three sixteenth distance makes the Grade 2 March 25 race at Fair Grounds a pleasing prospect for Red Route One, fourth with 33 points on the Derby leaderboard.
Tim Yakteen, listed trainer of Reincarnate, said "we'll come back" for the Arkansas Derby. The colt previously raced in California for Bob Baffert, whose legal problems with Churchill Downs over a 2021 medication violation involving the late Derby winner Medina Spirit keep him barred from the track. His horses must run in someone else's name -- as Taiba did last year, winning the Santa Anita Derby for Yakteen -- to earn Derby points.
Cox was at a loss to explain efforts by Verifying (fourth), seeking his second local win, and Giant Mischief (sixth) in his 3-year-old debut for co-owner Steve Landers and others. That's a rare bump in the road for the man with six horses in the Derby top 20.
Verifying, bottled up at the moment Confidence Game uncorked his winning move, was beaten 5 1/4 lengths overall. Giant Mischief lost by 6 1/2 lengths after a rougher trip.
"Verifying lost a lot of position from the quarter pole to the eighth pole. He went from basically being fourth to eighth or ninth," Cox said. "You can't do that in these types of races with these good horses. In my eyes he remains on the Derby trail and is a contender. Giant Mischief was in contention turning for home (but) hadn't raced in a while (since Dec. 17) and may have needed the race. I wouldn't say he's off the trail at all."
About the Arkansas Derby, Cox said, "We're going to be there. I don't know with who."
Fifth-place Rebel finisher Bourbon Bash, beaten six lengths from post 10, impressed trainer Wayne Lukas enough to consider another Kentucky Derby prep.
"Should have been a lot closer," Lukas said. "That 10 hole is a tough spot to overcome. He hit that (first) turn and I don't remember what number, what horse it was, but he hit him right in the hip and kicked him out there to the parking lot ... If they had changed positions and that horse had been on the other side, I think it would have made a hell of a difference. But any time you hit that turn and you lose your action ... that is brutal because now you have to get back in the race and make up all that ground. You're running, probably, three or four lengths further than the rest of the field."
In short, said the 85-year-old Hall of Famer trainer with four Derby wins, "I thought I saw enough to at least give him another chance. We can always drop back."