A $70,000 colt defeated rivals who cost $650,000 and $1.2 million in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn racetrack in Arkansas on February 23.
COAL BATTLE, by young sire Coal Front (by Stay Thirsty), won his fifth straight race on dirt (his only two losses came on grass) with a steady 1 1/4 length win in the $1.2 million Rebel, a prep for the nine-furlong Arkansas Derby on March 29.
Coal Battle earned 50 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby (G1)