Coal Battle won the war against 2-1 favorite Speed King down the stretch by a half-length to win the $300,000 Springboard Mile Stakes, the marquee race for 2-year-olds at Remington Park on the track's final night of the 2024 season.

With regular rider Juan Vargas in the irons, Coal Battle had about five lengths to make up on the leader at the quarter pole. He dug in and got up in time to win at 6-1 odds. Trainer Lonnie Briley said Coal Battle next would be pointed to the Southwest Stakes, a Grade 3 event for a $1 million purse at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn Park on Jan. 25, 2025.

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Speed King finished five lengths in front of Dominant Spirit in third. It was another 1-3/4 lengths back to Dr Ruben M in fourth. Jolly Samurai was a neck behind Dr Ruben M in fifth. Coal Battle won 10 qualifying points on the road to the 2025 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. The top five finishers all earned points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis.

Coal Battle entered the race off a 2 1/2-length win under Vargas in the $100,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs over a muddy track at Delta Downs in his previous start on Nov. 8. He also finished fourth in the $1 million Juvenile Mile at Kentucky Downs on the grass. Coal Battle has shown he is a versatile runner. He has now won on a sloppy track, by 3-1/2 lengths at first asking at Evangeline Downs in Louisiana, over a muddy track in the Jean Lafitte and now a fast track at Remington Park in the Springboard Mile.

"(Coal Battle) broke his maiden impressively," Briley said. "He had a lot of trouble in the million-dollar race at Kentucky Downs when he finished fourth. And then he won the Jean Lafitte. The owner (Norman Stables of Thomasville, Ala.) wanted to bring him here. He had run in this race before but never won it."

It was the first victory in this stakes race for all the connections of Coal Battle, who paid $15.80 to win. The hard-charging colt earned $180,000 from the purse and improved to three wins in five starts for total earnings of $307,625.

Vargas said he had a plan aboard Coal Battle from the start. He didn't reach contention in the race until he reached the stretch.

"I had planned to be in the middle of the pack and wait till the three-eighths to make my move," Vargas said. "He is just getting better and better. This was good for him."