Bob Baffert has won eight times at Oaklawn Park and has one submission in Sunday’s Rebel Stakes 2025 that could up his total to nine. He last won the 1 1/16-mile race with Concert Tour in 2021 and now turns his attention to Madaket Road to outrun the other 2025 Rebel Stakes horses. Madaket Road is listed 9-2 in the 2025 Rebel Stakes odds. Post time in Hot Springs, Ark. 2025 is 6:23 p.m. ET. Sandman is the 4-1 favorite in the 2025 Rebel Stakes field. Bullard is 5-1, while Speed King rounds out the top four at 6-1. With talented 3-year-olds set to enter the starting gate on Sunday, you’ll want to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2025 Rebel Stakes picks.
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders’ Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager two years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.
Last year, Yu correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup, predicted Stronghold’s upset win in the Santa Anita Derby and smashed the exacta in the Apple Blossom Handicap. On the Belmont Stakes undercard, she nailed National Treasure’s win in the Met Mile, and had the winner and exacta in the Woody Stephens Stakes. She closed out the year by hitting the exacta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Now, Yu has handicapped the 2025 Rebel Stakes lineup, made her picks and constructed her best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2025 Rebel Stakes predictions
One surprise: Yu is high Speed King, even though he is an underdog at 6-1. The Ron Moquett-trained son of Volatile won the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park as a 14-1 long shot on Jan. 25, so he’s already on the road to make the 2025 Kentucky Derby field. He took an early lead in that race while the top-three betting favorites took up the rear, and Speed King opened up his lead in the final turn for a comfortable victory.
Speed King has two wins and one second-place finish in three career starts. That includes a maiden sprint win at Churchill Downs on Nov. 1, and Moquett will hope for another dominant performance at the Rebel Stakes 2025. You can see all of Yu’s 2025 Rebel Stakes bets here.
How to make 2025 Rebel Stakes picks
Yu is especially high on a longshot who is “not a complete outsider at double-digit odds.” She is including this horse in her 2025 Rebel Stakes bets, and so should you. She’s sharing which horses to back at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2025 Rebel Stakes? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Yu’s picks for the Rebel Stakes 2025, all from the Santa Anita-based racing insider who nailed the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and find out.
