The Rebel (Grade 2) (KYD)- $1,250.000 Purse
OP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
February 24, 2024

With its large purse and 50 KYD points at stake, there was plenty of reason to be excited about the Rebel on Saturday. The weather would cooperate, leaving the track fast and setting the stage for a great race. Some of these horses have been talked about a lot more than others, and one that we have not heard mentioned much as of yet was Smokey Stover’s Jurassic Park. It was only his fourth start, and while he had run well in his previous two stake efforts, this was going to be his time to shine. He would run well early, a tactic that we had not seen from him previously, and he would be able to stay up front for the win. Jurassic Park was among our picks, and in fact, three of our four picks finished in the top four spots. The only one that didn’t was our second-place pick, the highly touted Baffert, who was the post time favorite. Isn’t that always the way it works? Jurassic Park’s trainer, Smokey Stover, is now a two-time winner of the race, as he also did so in 2022 with Shadow Police. The winning jockey, L Saez, wins for the third time and second time in a row. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:41.35, and that is a new stake record! Let’s take a look at it now!

(1/4 Mile- :23.26)- Heading out to the lead early, it’s Bad Debt, for Hippyheart but he has some company with him that’s only a neck behind. That would be our eventual winner from Smokey Stover, Jurassic Park, who is running to his inside. Within a length and keeping these two from moving all the way to the rail, the Our Athletes- trained Good Knights runs evenly with TwinTowersRacing’s Beaten Path. Hoku runs fifth for D J C Racing Stables while running four wide. Next, we have The Egg Man (Gdp Inc) and Cheetah Special (Williams9) running side by side, and in the middle of the pack, three wide, it’s Orange Pilled (Big Guns Stables), Rocking Raj (Night Rider Stables), Master and Commander (Fractious). Free Agent (Fractious) leads the rest of the field, ahead of Puppy Plex (Jive Inc.), Baffert (Royalty Stables), and Van Go Go (Fractious).

(½ Mile- 46.83)- Heading down the backstretch, Jurassic Park has poked a head in front of Bad Debt, and the two of these are each running very well. Ultimately, they would be able to move to the rail, as they would get fully clear of Good Nights and Beaten Path. Those two are still in a stalking position, and that also is true for Hoku. They have a new runner with them, though, as Master And Commander made a move in the backstretch to now run evenly with them and does so in the fourth lane. The Egg Man and Cheetah Special run in the middle of the field, a length ahead of Orange Pilled and Rocking Raj. There’s a gap of two now to the rest of the field, which is still led by Free Agent.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Our two frontrunners are looking very good, especially Jurassic Park. He is able to pull half a length ahead of Bad Debt and seems to be very comfortable with this new tactic. Bad Debt is not going anywhere and is going to make sure Jurassic Park doesn’t even slightly let up. Running third is Good Knights, who has been able to maintain his stalking position throughout and we’ll see soon if he had a little more for the stretch. Hoku and Master And Commander is still close by, but doing so on the outside means they are covering much more racetrack than Good Nights is. Beaten Path has been losing ground, but so two have The Egg Man and Cheetah Special. Orange Pilled was now running evenly with them. It’s a length to Rocking Raj, then Free Agent and Baffert. The supporters of the BC Juvenile winner were starting to get concerned. Puppy Plex and Van Go Go had a lot of work to do.

(Finish- 1:41.35)- With a furlong to go, Jurassic Park has gotten the better of Bad Debt and seemed to be on his way to a win unless someone could start taking a big run at him right now. In the end, the margin of victory for Jurassic Park over Good Knights was not much, and a photo may have been needed to be double checked before posting Jurassic Park as the winner, but it never really seemed like his win was in doubt. Fifty points and $750.000 are the haul for Jurassic Park and Smokey Stover. Good Knights is second, with Bad Debt holding on over Hoku and the too little, too late running Baffert. Master And Commander was disappointing in the stretch but does beat stablemates Van Go Go and Free Agent. Rounding it out, it’s Orange Pilled, Rocking Raj, Beaten Path, Puppy Plex, Cheetah Special and The Egg Man.

About The Winner- Jurassic Park, trained by Smokey Stover and ridden to victory by L Saez, is a three-year-old colt by Solar System and is out of Jurassic Coast. He was bred in Ontario by Smokey Stover as a third quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his second in four starts and first stake win. His career earnings are now $857.000.

Track: Fast
Time: :23¹  :46⁴  1:10³  1:41¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 1 Paid 112.40
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 1 – 11 Paid 363.30

Scratched: Disclosed

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES