When Robbie Norman dispatched his two trainers, Lonnie Briley and Jayde (J.J.) Gelner, to each select a horse for him at the 2023 Texas Thoroughbred Association yearling sale, he certainly never imagined the daily double would prove to be so rewarding.

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“I put the pressure on [Briley and Gelner]. I told them I wanted the two best horses at that sale. They absolutely performed to the best; I have to hand it to them. We’ll never [replicate] that again,” Norman, an owner of several grocery stores in the Southeast, said with a chuckle.

The Briley-trained Coal Battle, a Kentucky-bred son of Coal Front, was bought for $70,000. Gelner’s Secret Faith, a Louisiana-bred daughter of Aurelius Maximus, was purchased for $75,000. Each of the 3-year-olds was bred by Jay Adcock and Hume Wornall.

To date, Coal Battle and Secret Faith have combined to win $880,897 and have nine stakes victories between them. They are on a trajectory that Norman hopes ultimately leads them to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and Longines Kentucky Oaks.

Coal Battle is on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 20 points for his victories in the Jan. 4 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park and December’s Remington Springboard Mile. Next up for the colt is the Feb. 23 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. The $1.25 million Rebel, run at 1 1/16 miles, offers points of 50-25-15-10-5 to its top five finishers. The race was moved from Saturday, Feb. 22, to Sunday because of extreme weather.

Briley, who once worked as a farm trainer for the late John Franks, a four-time Eclipse Award-winning owner, trains only for Norman and has 30 horses in his care, running primarily at Delta Downs, Evangeline Downs, and Fair Grounds. Briley, 72, has yet to saddle a graded winner in his three-plus decades training, but Coal Battle definitely gives the vibe that he can deliver that to his trainer in the not-too-distant future.  

Briley with jockey Juan Vargas after Smarty Jones.

A winner of four of six starts, including three stakes, the dark bay or brown colt has provided Briley with many reasons to smile, and not just because he’s a win machine. “He’s got a pretty little expression on him. He’s kind of unique, I guess. He’s a cool little horse,” Briley said.

In his most recent start, Coal Battle won the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones by four lengths as the fourth choice in a six-horse field. He controlled what was a dawdling pace under Juan Vargas who has ridden him in each of his wins.

“The fractions were slow and Juan had a handful,” Briley recounted. “He had his head bowed. They challenged him, but he just went on. He went [6.13] seconds in the final sixteenth, finishing up really strong.

“He came back from the test barn and while walking down the shedrow, going to his stall, he was bucking and kicking and squealing. It was like he didn’t even run. He’s very smart, this horse. I just hope he’s not too smart.”

Norman, 53, became intrigued by racing after happening upon a TVG feature on 2012 Belmont Stakes winner Union Rags that aired while he was going through a rough patch due to his divorce. A son of a Baptist minister, growing up in Alabama, horse racing wasn’t on Norman’s radar but he was looking to shake things up in his life. Soon he was educating himself on racing and then began buying Thoroughbreds, some on his own and some in partnership, including with his brother, Mark, his partner in his grocery store businesses.

Robbie solely owned his first and to date only graded winner, Silent Bird, the winner of the 2017 Midnight Lute Stakes who was trained in Southern California by Mark Glatt. Since 2013, the owner’s runners have earned in excess of $10 million. Last year, Norman Stables cracked the top 50 for the first time in both wins (37) and purse earnings ($1.9 million).

“In racing, you have to take the good with the bad. And it took me a few years to adjust to that,” said Norman, who has turned down offers to sell Coal Battle. “Now I can drive the eight or four hours to watch a race and, you know, I can handle coming in last or first.

Robbie Norman at the barn with stepson Logan. (Norman Family photo)

“My family and I really try to make racing a family thing, like a vacation,” he added. “We know all the good places [near the tracks] and we do other things around the races which makes it very exciting for us.”

In addition to the fun Norman is having with Coal Battle, Secret Faith has also got his blood pumping. She has a near-perfect record of seven wins and one second in eight starts. Six of her wins have come in stakes including her most recent, the Louisiana Bred Premier Night Starlet Stakes at Delta Downs Feb. 1. Norman said Gelner is targeting the Louisiana Broodmare of the Year “Flashy Prize” Stakes against Louisiana-breds at Fair Grounds March 1 for the filly. Should she perform well there, she could be pointed to a Kentucky Oaks prep race with points.

First things first, though, there’s a Derby prep for Norman and Briley to tackle with Coal Battle, something the trainer said he never imagined happening.

“In all honesty, I never, never even considered the Derby, you know? I never thought I’d have a horse to go to the Derby,” Briley shared. “I never would even have thought about it. I guess it’s always in the back of the mind for every trainer, but it’s not like I have 300 horses to pick from. It’s a small stable … and then you get a good horse.

“I know it’s going to get tough now with the Rebel Stakes. They’ll have some tough ones in there. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

No matter what happens next, Briley can be proud of the fact that when Norman sent him on a mission to buy him a good horse at the Texas sale two years ago, the assignment was successfully accomplished.