The Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park has produced its share of shocking results this century. A $2 win bet on Crowned King paid supporters $75.60 in 2003, Win Willy’s backers made a tidy $115.60 for a couple of bucks in 2009, and Will Take Charge rewarded bettors to the tune of 58 bucks for a $2 bet in 2013 … and he blossomed into a champion.

Ricky Courville with Un Ojo in 2022. (BloodHorse photo)

No Rebel result was more stunning in this timeframe than Un Ojo leaving 31,000 fans gobsmacked at the Hot Springs, Ark. track in 2022 when he rallied to victory in the $1 million race at 75.40-1 odds under Ramon Vazquez. Un Ojo was the longest of the longshots in that 11-horse field, banked $600,000 for the win, and quickly became a fan favorite. Un Ojo – Spanish for one eye – had lost his left eye in a pasture accident but overcame the adversity to not only race but succeed at an elite level of competition.

Owned by Cypress Creek Equine, Un Ojo made his first three starts for trainer Ricky Courville, winning his second start at Delta Downs in November 2021 before finishing fourth in the Jean Laffite Stakes there two weeks later. Subsequently sent to New York, Un Ojo joined the barn of Tony Dutrow and finished second by a neck in the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Aqueduct in his final race as a 2-year-old before finishing second there again, this time 4 ½ lengths behind Early Voting, in the 2022 Withers Stakes.

From there, Kevin Moody of Cypress Creek had to decide between staying in New York for the Gotham Stakes or transferring him back to Courville to run in the Rebel. He chose wisely!

The Rebel featured an odds-on favorite from the barn of Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, three entrants from Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, and one from racing legend D. Wayne Lukas. Still, coming off a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Withers, Un Ojo had no business being 75-1! Aided by a ground-saving trip under Ramon Vazquez, Un Ojo fought gamely in the stretch and proved best by a half-length over Lukas’ Ethereal Road with heavy favorite Newgrange sixth.

Clay Courville with Un Ojo (Anne M. Eberhardt/BloodHorse)

“I’ve loved this horse since Day 1. I knew he had the talent to be this kind of horse,” said Clay Courville, the assistant to his father, Ricky. “This is a dream come true.”

While the younger Courville, who had trained Un Ojo as a baby, had faith in the dark bay or brown Laoban gelding, the magnitude of the win took some time to register. “It still feels unreal, you know?” he said the next day.

Un Ojo endured a brutal trip when eighth in the Arkansas Derby in his next start – he hit the rail when in traffic while making his bid on the final turn and needed some stitches after the race. Un Ojo did not make the Kentucky Derby because of a foot bruise, but he remained in training, placing in a pair of stakes in 2023 and closing out that year with an allowance win. He has had four workouts in 2025 in preparation for his 6-year-old season, and the fan favorite is worth keeping an eye on.