Rebel Stakes

The Rebel Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt run annually in March, at Oaklawn Park Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The event currently offers a purse of $1,000,000
History.
The inaugural running of the event was on 18 March 1961 as the Rebel Handicap over a distance of one mile and seventy yards and was won by Mrs. Vera E. Smith 's Bass Clef winning his fifth straight in a time on 1:42. Bass Clef had previously won the Louisiana Derby. Later in the spring Bass Clef would finish third to Carry Back in the Kentucky Derby.
The event immediately became a preparatory event for the Arkansas Derby. The 1965 winner Swift Ruler completed the double.
In 1984 the conditions of the event were changed from handicap to stakes allowance and the name of the event was modified to the Rebel Stakes. That same year the distance was increased to one and one-sixteenth miles. In 1990 the event was upgraded to Grade III but was downgraded to Listed for the 2003 and 2004 runnings.
The event was upgraded in 2008 to a Grade II by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
Since 2013 the event has been part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
In 2019, the event was split into two separate divisions after Oaklawn president Louis Cella presented a sporting gesture after the San Felipe Stakes was abandoned in California. Road to Kentucky Derby qualification points for the first four finishers were adjusted. 
It currently offers a purse of $1,000,000 and is the second leg of the Oaklawn three-year-old stakes program, the first being the Southwest Stakes and the third the Arkansas Derby.
Records.
Time record:
Margins:
Most wins by an owner:
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Rebel Stakes – Arkansas Derby double:
Winners.
Notes:
§ Ran as an entry
ƒ Ran as the field entry
† Floral Shop was first past the post but was disqualified for interference and placed second. Spike Nail was declared the winner.
External sites.
Oaklawn Park Media Guide 2021