Kentucky-bred Timberlake shot to the top of the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard on Saturday, Feb. 24, posting an impressive victory in the $1.25 million Rebel S. (G2) at Oaklawn Park. Earning 50 qualifying points in the win, Timberlake now has 66 points to top all three-year-olds on the leaderboard. Fellow Kentucky-breds fill out the top five spots on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Sierra Leone and Track Phantom are next with 55 points. Fierceness, the Champion 2-Year-Old Colt of 2023, follows with 36 points, and Common Defense, the Rebel runner-up, has 27 points to round out the top five places.

Owned by WinStar Farm and trained by Brad Cox, Timberlake settled behind the early pace set by Carbone through the early stages of the Rebel. He advanced on the leaders around the far turn, striking the front in upper stretch. He held a rallying Common Defense at bay in the final 100 yards, scoring by two lengths in the end under jockey Cristian Torres. The lucrative win raised Timberlake’s earnings to $1,094,350.

“Beautiful trip,” said Cristian Torres. “I got the position that I wanted. I wanted him to be nice and relaxed. He did it all. He’s a classy horse.”

Bred in Kentucky by St. Elias Stable, Timberlake was bought by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm for $350,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale. By Into Mischief, Timberlake is produced from the Lookin at Lucky mare Pin Up (IRE). Timberlake is now a winner in three of six lifetime starts. He finished fourth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), and his signature win at two came in the $500,000 Champagne S. (G1). The Rebel marked Timberlake’s initial win around two turns.

On the Kentucky Oaks (G1) front, Kentucky-bred Lemon Muffin took over the top spot with a victory in the $400,000 Honeybee S. (G3) at Oaklawn on Feb. 24. The daughter of Collected is owned by Aaron Sones and trained by D. Wayne Lukas. The gray filly, who has 50 points (and $210,000 in unrestricted stakes earnings) was bred in the Bluegrass by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Kuster and the Collected Syndicate. She is out of the Canadian Frontier mare Pelt. Also with 50 points on the Oaks leaderboard is Kentucky-bred Tarifa, a Godolphin homebred. Tarifa has $180,000 in unrestricted stakes earnings.