HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Concert Tour won the $1 million Rebel Stakes by 4 1/4 lengths on Saturday, giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert yet another candidate in pursuit of his seventh Kentucky Derby victory.
Ridden by Joel Rosario, Concert Tour ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43 to remain undefeated in three career races. He earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, and is now ranked fourth among the top 20 possible starters for the May 1 race.
“That was nice, impressive,” Baffert said. “This is a really top horse. I was going to be disappointed if he didn’t do what he did today.”
Baffert earned his eighth win in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park.
Concert Tour paid $5.40, $3.80 and $3.40 as the 3-2 second choice. He has career earnings of $756,600 for owners Gary and Mary West. Their horse, Maximum Security, crossed the finish line first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby only to be disqualified.
Hozier, also trained by Baffert, closed from nearly last place to finish second. Big Lake was third. Caddo River, the 6-5 favorite, was fourth.
At Baffert’s base in Southern California, Triple Tap made his debut with a 4 1/4-length victory in a $61,000 race at Santa Anita. The 3-year-old colt is a half-brother to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, who was trained by Baffert.
Sent off at 1-5 odds, Triple Tap ran seven furlongs in 1:23.12 under Flavien Prat. Baffert was non-committal about future plans for Triple Tap.
“He won nice, it looks like he can go two turns easily, I just like what I saw,” the trainer said. “We don’t want to rush him.”
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