Don't overlook Keepmeinmind in Saturday's Rebel

The weather broke kindly for a change Tuesday in Arkansas. It is supposed to be wet again the rest of the week. That has become all too routine for Keepmeinmind, whose wait to start his 3-year-old season has been delayed by a rough winter at Oaklawn Park. It may finally happen Saturday in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes.

“He’s ready to go,” trainer Robertino Diodoro told HRN in a telephone call last week from Hot Springs. “He’s doing well. Keep our fingers crossed that everything is ready to roll next Saturday.”

More than three months after he broke his maiden winning the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs, Keepmeinmind figures to be among the short-priced horses in the Rebel (G2), a virtual win-and-you’re-in prep for the Kentucky Derby.

Diodoro exercised patience in skipping the twice-postponed Southwest Stakes (G3), Eclipse Award winner Essential Quality won Feb. 27. Because they were pushed back two weeks, the Southwest horses will not take what might be considered the next step through the Rebel to the April 1 running of the Arkansas Derby (G1).

“It’s going to be a totally different group than what was expected,” Diodoro said. “Probably a shorter field, which is not necessarily to our benefit with our running style. But we can’t do anything about that.”

A deep-closing colt by Laoban, Keepmeinmind also should want added distance. Instead, though, he will get a familiar 1 1/16 miles Saturday. That is how far he has raced in his last three starts, including a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and a third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, both at Keeneland.

Essential Quality also won those two races, so not having him around gives Keepmeinmind a better chance to assure himself of a place in the 20-stall gate May 1 at Churchill Downs. The biggest threat this time figures to be Bob Baffert’s shipper Concert Tour.

“We’re looking forward to it for sure,” Diodoro said. “Hopefully everything works out and we can get a big chunk of Derby points built up.”

A Rebel victory should also mean Keepmeinmind would not have to win his final major prep to get to Louisville. Diodoro could look at the landscape and decide the best fit over 1 1/8 or even 1 3/16 miles. Not that he and the owners — Cypress Creek LLC and Arnold Bennewith — are focused on that yet.

“We’ve talked a little bit but not that much,” Diodoro said. “I really believe in one step at a time with these horses. I’m not trying to think too far ahead. We’re just doing our best to be ready for next Saturday.”

Diodoro, 48, is a native of Canada whose previous best horse was probably 2017 Oaklawn Handicap (G2) winner Inside Straight. If the same Keepmeinmind who won the Kentucky Jockey Club shows up for the Rebel, then he will have gone one better in graded-stakes accomplishments.

“He’s training really well,” he said. “He’s just developed into a really nice horse. It’s got us all excited.”