Maestro Baffert, Concert Tour in perfect pitch at Rebel Stakes

If you’re looking for a sticking point, it’s that Concert Tour ran the slowest mile and sixteenth in a major stakes race at the distance Saturday at Oaklawn.

The Rebel winner took 1:43.18 to defeat seven rivals in the Grade 2 $1 million Kentucky Derby prep. Compare with that the

1:42.73 of 4-year-old Silver State in the Essex Handicap for older males or the 1:42.57 by

4-year-old filly Shedaresthedevil in the Grade

2 Azeri.

Time, it is said, matters only to one in jail. And in trainer Bob Baffert’s eighth Rebel victory, time never seemed more superfluous.

With running on his mind, Concert Tour quickly put away race favorite Caddo River, a last-out Oaklawn mile stakes winner. Running in a straight line down the stretch, something a horseman might note, the son of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense turned into the lane with authority.

It was a move similar to that of Curlin, also making his third start, in the 2007 Rebel. Curlin, trained by Steve Asmussen, went on to win the Arkansas Derby, the Preakness and Breeders’ Cup Classic and twice was named Horse of the Year.

Who knows what lies ahead for Concert Tour except to say that he is one of several that could give Baffert a second-straight and record seventh Kentucky Derby victory May 1.

The 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points Concert Tour earned in the Rebel puts him on a par with Life Is Good (also unbeaten), Medina Spirit and Spielberg, previous Baffert horses to win Derby preps. Whereas Spielberg appeared distracted, looking off at the break, when third in Oaklawn’s Grade 3 Southwest Feb. 27, Concert Tour perhaps won with something left after crossing the wire by

4 1/4 lengths. Baffert-trained Rebel winners Nadal

(2020) and American Pharoah (2015) went on to win the Arkansas Derby, as did the trainer’s Bodemeister in 2012. Nadal retired undefeated after winning the second division of the split Arkansas Derby while American Pharoah, a champion at 2, became racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

For good measure, Hozier earned 20 Derby points for his Rebel second, giving Baffert yet another option. Asmussen, whose Big Lake (third) and Super Stock (fourth) completed the superfecta, could not quibble with the outcome.

“The winner was ultra-impressive,” Asmussen said. “I thought Big Lake sat a good trip. Wish he could have avoided the bumping in the stretch (costing him second), but the winner was clear-cut.”

Martin Garcia, riding Hozier, got the same picture. Concert Tour, he said, “was going easy and I couldn’t do anything. He’s a nice horse.”

By now, racegoers should take it on faith that a lightly raced Baffert horse will do the trainer’s bidding in his first two-turn race or out of town. And that the Hall of Famer does not ship horses to take back in big races.

Previously raced in California, where last out he won the Grade 2 San Vicente at seven furlongs, Concert Tour threw down an immediate challenge to Caddo River, last-out winner of the Smarty Jones by 10 1/4 lengths on Oaklawn’s first-day (Jan 22) card.

Track announcer Vic Stauffer noticed early the prospects for a match race when Concert Tour, near the outside from post seven, led railsitter Caddo River into the first turn. Baffert also envisioned the two might clash early, Joel Rosario on his horse and Florent Geroux riding Caddo River for Brad Cox.

“I just told Rosario he’s fast,” Baffert said. “I know Caddo River’s fast. This horse going two turns first out, just play the break and do what you think is right.”

Like heavyweights trading punches, the horses felt each other out through a half-mile in 47.53 seconds and three quarters in 1:12.00. Concert Tour, it should be noted, enjoyed a

5-pound break (117) under the race’s allowance conditions.

Caddo River affected the finish but not in the way that his camp wanted. Tightening the hole on Big Lake, the 6-5 favorite checked in fifth, his Derby hopes dwindling in a barn that has juvenile champion Essential Quality and

50-point qualifier Mandaloun. Caddo River, with 10 points for winning the Smarty Jones, needed a Rebel first or second to keep going.

Keepmeinmind’s sixth-place Rebel finish came in the colt’s first start since November, his 3-year-old start delayed because of winter weather. A late closer, he was no threat on this day to a horse with more recent racing and able to control the pace. Trainer Robertino Diodoro’s Laoban colt, a Grade 2 winner with

18 qualifying points, is eligible for improvement in his second start, perhaps the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby April 10.

Who knows about Get Her Number, who was no threat (seventh) in the Rebel and whose Grade 1 victory last fall at Santa Anita requires further validating?

Baffert, meanwhile, gets to check the schedules and pick spots for his Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

Rainier Mactangay, writing for Louisville-based website Horse Racing Nation, sees Concert Tour and Life Is Good as major players.

“There are some minor concerns about the field quality, indicating whether Big Lake and Hosier completing the trifecta indicates a weak group overall. Concert Tour beat those horses only by a little more than four lengths,” Mactangay said. “But again, it seems like Rosario chose to leave more by not asking Concert Tour.”

At times, it seems as if Baffert is leading an orchestra, currently with one performer on Concert Tour.