Correll’s Corner: Confidence Game gives a Rebel yell

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview —-

TRINITY, Fla. – The Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., produced the first colt with a guaranteed spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Confidence Game picked up 50 points toward the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. The son of Candy Ride pulled off the upset at 18-1 in the mile-and-a-sixteenth race over a sloppy track in a time of 1:44.21. The Keith Desormeaux trained colt sat off the early pace and jockey James Graham pulled the the trigger inside the quarter-pole to run to victory.

Red Route One and Reincarnate were second and third, while post-time favorite Verifying was fourth.

Arabian Knight (sire: Uncle Mo) tops the list after his impressive win in the Southwest Stakes (96 Beyer) at Oaklawn Park. This was a followup to his runaway performance in a maiden race on Breeders’ Cup weekend at Keeneland. Bob Baffert is loaded this year, but …

Forte (Violence) goes here off his win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. His connections are awaiting his 2023 return.

Instant Coffee (Bolt d’Oro) has won the Kentucky Jockey Club at Louisville and the Lecomte at Fairgrounds in New Orleans. He’s Brad Cox’s top runner.

Faustin (Curlin) ran second in the one-turn San Vicente to his speedster stablemate Havameltdown. Faustin is a two-turn colt and didn’t embarrass himself in the San Vicente. Yep, he’s another Baffert.

Confidence Game (Candy Ride) earned his spot in the Kentucky Derby with his Rebel win.

Cave Rock (Arrogate) was flying high until he ran into Forte in the Juvenile (Baffert). The colt had his first work of 2023 recently and clocked a snappy four furlongs in 47.80.

Practical Move (Practical Joke) outran a trio of Baffert colts to win the Los Alamitos Futurity and that could be saying something.

Reincarnate (Good Magic) won the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita and was third in the Rebel after some trouble in the stretch drive. He’s now running out of the Tim Yakteen barn.

Litigate (Candy Ride) is trained by Todd Pletcher and has room for improvement.

Verifying (Justify) is one of the many colts Cox is training, but he was fourth in the Rebel.

Others to keep an eye on: Victory Formation (Tapwrit) won the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn. He’s another Cox colt. Gun Pilot (had no place to run in the Rebel), Newgate, Red Route One (second in the Rebel), Two Phils, National Treasure, Blazing Sevens and Angel of Empire.