Lookin at Lucky highlights Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn

Horseracing Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion colt Lookin at Lucky tops a field of seven three-year-olds in Saturday's $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The 2009 champion two-year-old will be making his first start of the year in the 1 1/16-mile race.

The Rebel is the final local prep race before the $1 million Arkansas Derby, set for Saturday, April 10.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Lookin at Lucky will be ridden by Garrett Gomez and leave from the two post. The Rebel will be the colt's first start outside of California.

"We have a lot of questions that have to be answered," Baffert said, "wearing blinkers for the first time in a race and running on dirt for the first time. The closer you get to the Kentucky Derby (May 1), the better off you are knowing the answers."

Lookin at Lucky, owned by Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weltman, was second to Vale of York in the Breeders'Cup Juvenile last November, but came back to win the CashCall Futurity the following month at Hollywood Park.

"It always looks like he's stretched to win," Gomez said following the CashCall win, "but that's not the case. He's going to learn more as he goes along because he's got a super mind to him. We've got to get him to where he puts his competition away and sprints to the wire. He's full of talent and I'm getting even more excited about him."

The colt has won five of six starts for more than $1.2 million.

Southwest Stakes winner Conveyance, also trained by Baffert, will make his next start in the $800,000 Sunland Derby on Sunday, March 28.

Southwest runner-up Dublin, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, will start from the far outside post with Corey Nakatani riding. The chestnut colt will be making his second start of 2010 for owners Robert Baker and William Mack.

Dublin came from the back of the field in the Southwest to lose by just three- quarters of a length. Nakatani will be aboard the colt for the first time in the race.

In 2009 Dublin won the Hopeful at Saratoga, but then finished fifth in the Chamgagne and seventh in the Iroquois. With two wins in six career starts he has earnings of $278,623.

Taking another shot at Lookin at Lucky is Noble's Promise, trained by Ken McPeek. Noble's Promise will break from post six with Robby Albarado riding.

Owned by Chasing Dreams Racing, the colt was third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and second in the CashCall Futurity. He won the Fitz Dixon Stakes at Presque Isle Downs and Keeneland's Breeders' Futurity Stakes.

Noble's Promise career record shows three wins from six starts and earnings of $733,500.

Here is the complete field for the Rebel in post position order: Cardiff Giant, Christian Santiago Reyes; Lookin at Lucky, Garrett Gomez; Royal Express, Perry Compton; Uh Oh Bango, Glenn Corbett; Pleasant Storm, Jon Court; Noble's Promise, Robby Albarado and Dublin, Corey Nakatani.

Post-time for the 50th running of the Rebel is scheduled for 6:47 p.m. (et).

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.