Everybody loves an underdog and this year’s Road to the Kentucky Derby underdog is proving to be the real deal. Undefeated in two starts this year and riding a four-race winning streak, Coal Battle has the racing world buzzing, proving that even the humblest of connections can have a chance at the Derby dream.
Bred in Kentucky by Hume Wornall & Jay Adcock and owned by Norman Stables LLC, Coal Battle was sired by G2 winner Coal Front and is out of the Midshipman mare Wolfblade. Though most Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders, if sold, pass through the storied Keeneland or Fasig-Tipton sales, he sold for $70,000 at the 2023 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale and made his way to the barn of trainer Lonnie Briley, who at the time had never won a graded stakes race.
The 3-year old dark bay colt did not let his humble beginnings stop him. He kicked off his career with a win in a maiden special weight at Evangeline Downs in July of last year, and he went on to secure Kentucky Derby (G1) points with a win in the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes (Listed) at the end of the year, leaving racing fans to wonder just how good this horse could be.
Coal Battle continued his winning ways coming into 2025 by taking the Smarty Jones Stakes (Listed) in front-running fashion at Oaklawn Park. The chatter around the backstretch and amongst the railbirds asked the question of whether or not he was the real deal or if the race just set up perfectly for him? Arkansas’ Derby prep races are some of the best in the country, but rather than shying away from the challenge, he rose up to it and silenced his doubters with his next start.
Despite not getting the lead and racing five-wide at one point in the Rebel Stakes (G2), Coal Battle charged home for the win by 1 ¼ lengths with jockey Juan P. Vargas aboard. After the victory, Briley told the BloodHorse, “He ran big… what can I say? I couldn’t ask for more.” Briley, 72, admitted to the Daily Racing Form that he never even thought about the Derby because he didn’t think he’d have that kind of horse.
Now, Briley and all of Coal Battle’s connections not only have the Kentucky Derby (G1) kind of horse, they have one of the leading points earners on the Derby Trail. His biggest test is still ahead of him, though. Coal Battle has been entered in this Saturday’s Arkansas Derby (G1) and has drawn the eighth post in a field of nine. He will face previously defeated rivals Sandman, Speed King, Publisher and others as well as a newcomer called Cornucopian, who was purchased for $1.1 million and is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Despite his success leading up to this race, he is 7-2 on the morning line while the runaway Maiden Special Weight winner Cornucopian has been declared the morning line favorite at 7-5. Post time for Oaklawn Park’s Arkansas Derby (G1) is set for 7:50 pm and it will air on FS2’s “America’s Day at the Races.”
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