Class President caused an upset at Oaklawn and took a cinematic edition of the Rebel Stakes
- Turf Diario
- Mar 2
- 2 min read
With a great ride by John Velazquez in the middle of it all, the son of Uncle Mo surpassed Silent Tactic by a nose
HOT SPRINGS, Arkansas (Special for Turf Diario).- In an electrifying finish before an estimated crowd of 29,000 people, Class President put his head down just in time and took the Rebel Stakes (G2-1,700 m, dirt, US$ 1,000,000 purse) at Oaklawn Park, making a leap in quality on the road to the Kentucky Derby (G1).
With only 3 starts in his campaign —and debuting both at two turns and outside of Florida— the son of Uncle Mo passed all the tests for multiple champion Todd Pletcher and for the ownership group led by WinStar Farm. It was Pletcher's third victory in the Rebel and the second for the colt, who increased his earnings to US$ 593,700.
Ridden by Hall of Fame member John Velazquez, Class President settled in pursuit of the favorite Litmus Test(Nyquist), who set the pace after demanding fractions (46s62/100 for the half-mile). In the final turn, the winner moved outside the leader and took control upon entering the stretch. But the race was far from over.
Silent Tactic (Tacitus) appeared with a wide advance and, 50 meters from the wire, managed to move in front. It seemed decided. However, on the inside, Class President found a second gear and surged again to prevail by just a nose in 1m43s21/100 on a fast track.
“When the other one passed him, he responded. That’s what I liked,” commented Velazquez. “He went into the first turn a bit strong, but then he was perfect. I felt I had it.”
Silent Tactic finished 5 1/4 lengths ahead of the heavy favorite Litmus Test, trained by Bob Baffert, who in his 3-year-old debut led until the second turn before running out of steam. Blackout Time (Not This Time) was fourth in his return.
The Rebel distributed 105 points (50-25-15-10-5) toward Churchill Downs, consolidating Class President as one of the new protagonists of the generation. “He looked Litmus Test in the eye in the stretch and kept going. He is improving a lot,” celebrated Elliott Walden, co-owner of WinStar.
Oaklawn will close its qualifying series on March 28 with the Arkansas Derby (G1). If the Rebel was a preview, the next stop promises even more intensity.
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