Oaklawn: Tournaments, carryover among Sunday betting options

There are plenty of enticing betting opportunities for bettors to pursue on a stakes-packed Sunday at Oaklawn Park.

$800 Rebel KDBC Qualifier leads tournament action

Oaklawn’s Sunday card is the focus of three tournaments on TwinSpires.com. The $800 Rebel KDBC Qualifier is the biggest, with multiple entries into the 2026 Kentucky Derby Betting Challenge (KDBC) up for grabs by the top finishers.

Meanwhile, bettors with smaller bankrolls can pursue cash prizes in the $40 Oaklawn Challenge and the $100 Oaklawn Challenge. All three tournaments require players to bet their entire bankroll across at least five races at Oaklawn, with the $800 Rebel KDBC Qualifier requiring a minimum of $40 in a given race for it to count toward the five-race minimum.

Classix Pick 6 boasts $8,498 carryover

Pick 6 wagers aren’t eligible for tournament play, but you might want to bet Oaklawn’s Classix Pick 6 just the same, since Sunday’s offering of the $1 wager features an $8,498 carryover.

The Pick 6 gets underway in Race 7 at approximately 4:07 p.m. ET. The sequence includes the two biggest stakes of the day: Race 9, the Honeybee (G3), and Race 11, the Rebel (G2).

Live longshots abound in graded stakes

Both the Honeybee and the Rebel have drawn large and competitive fields. There may be opportunities for bettors to cash big payoffs with live longshots.

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In the Honeybee, #9 Explora (7-5) is a clear morning-line favorite after cracking the exacta in each of her first six starts, including the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). But she exits a runner-up finish in a slow edition of the Las Virgenes S. and could be vulnerable while making her first start outside of California.

#7 Counting Stars (15-1), a Triple Crown nominee, is an intriguing alternative. She completely misfired in the Martha Washington S. last month, easing to the finish line in last place. But two starts back, she trounced Oaklawn’s Year’s End S. by six lengths over #4 Newtown Pike (10-1), who returned to run second by a neck in the Martha Washington.

Counting Stars bounced out of the Martha Washington with a fast five-furlong workout at Oaklawn. If she rebounds to her Year’s End form, she can spring a surprise in the Honeybee. Use Counting Stars in the Pick 6, and if you’re playing a tournament, consider betting her to win and keying her over Explora in an exacta.

In the Rebel, we’re drawn to the chances of #3 Class President (10-1), who ran second against the talented sprinter Solitude Dude in the seven-furlong Swale S. at Gulfstream Park. Class President had previously trounced a one-mile maiden special weight at Gulfstream by 3 1/4 lengths, and his pedigree (by Uncle Mo out of a Quality Road mare) suggests he’ll appreciate stretching out around two turns in the 1 1/16-mile Rebel.

RELATED: Tipsheet: 2026 Rebel Stakes

Trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Rebel twice before with lightly raced Florida shippers, and Brisnet Speed ratings suggest Class President is a good fit against this year’s Rebel field. Try a win bet if you’re playing a tournament, and be sure to include Class President in the Pick 6.

Good luck!