Class President (right) held off a late charge from Silent Tactic to win the Rebel Stakes March 1 at Oaklawn Park, earning 50 qualifying points for the May 2 Kentucky Derby. (Coady Media)
“I was very proud of him,” said jockey John Velazquez. “It was his first time going two turns and the other horse (Silent Tactic) hit him that time I got close to him again, and (Class President) came back at him.”
The victory capped a strong day for the Hall of Fame rider as he won three races on the card and two of the three stakes; having guided Batten Down to an impressive romp in the Pig Trail Overnight Stakes. All of Velazquez’s experience and skill accumulated over the years were on display as he got Class President to respond to a sustained challenge down the stretch.
Both of the top two finishers got ideal trips into the first turn compared to most of their competition. Breaking from the second post position, Velazquez and Class President were able to follow rail-breaking Litmus Test into the clubhouse turn and race in the two path. Five of his rivals aligned outside of him, leaving Soldier N Diplomat seven wide entering the turn.
Slower out of the gate, Silent Tactic avoided that early traffic and rider Cristian Torres was able to tuck in on the rail, moving up a few spots as the rest of the field eventually folded into a pack.
Litmus Test set reasonable fractions of :23.06 for the opening quarter-mile, :46.62 for the half-mile, and 1:11.77 for six-eighths of a mile, but Velazquez turned the pressure up with Class President entering the far turn. By the quarter pole he had taken the lead, and Silent Tactic was getting free from traffic that made Torres pause temporarily on the turn. From there, they dazzled the Sunday evening crowd.
“I was just trying to save the best I could for the end,” Velazquez said. “It worked out.”
Class President proved tenacious, responding to Silent Tactic drawing even with heart. He completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.21, paying $19.00 to win. Litmus Test was 5 ¼ lengths back in third, clearly best of the rest with a 2 ¾-length gap back to Blackout Time in fourth.
The Rebel was an important stepping stone for Class President as he is now elevated into consideration for the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs. The victory awarded 50 qualifying points to Class President while Silent Tactic’s 25 points for finishing second lifted his total point sum to 50 as well. Based on non-restricted stakes earnings, Silent Tactic currently holds the tiebreaker between the pair and ranks second overall on the Derby Leaderboard.
The remainder of the top 5 – Litmus Test, Blackout Time, and Soldier N Diplomat – received points on a 15-10-5 scale.
Class President won his career debut racing a one-turn mile Dec. 27 at Gulfstream Park, and then Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher entered Class President in Gulfstream’s Jan. 31 Swale Stakes held at furlongs. He would be second that day to Solitude Dude, who had dictated the pace his own way.
However, the decision to cut back in distance was not a lack of faith in his ability going long, but more an attempt to keep his races properly timed after the one-mile allowance Pletcher originally targeted failed to draw a sufficient number of entries.
“We wanted to stay on rhythm with the number of starts and the timing of the races,” WinStar Farm president and CEO Elliott Walden said. “We always felt like he would handle the distance.”
He also proved he could handle travel in his first start away from Gulfstream, being chosen to make the journey to Arkansas while stablemate Jackson Hole represented the ownership trio in Saturday’s Fountain of Youth.
Walden said the colt has shown proper progression, at least some of which surely comes from the expert hands of Pletcher.
“Todd’s done a tremendous job for us for many years. This is just another example of why he’s in the Hall of Fame,” Walden said. “That being (Class President’s) third start, it was really nice to see his competitive fire. He’s progressed nicely. We felt like he was a nice horse when we sent him to Todd.”
