BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Longtime St. Landry Parish-area trainer Lonnie Briley is currently experiencing a national spotlight reality that he perhaps never seriously considered.
Coal Battle, a three-year-old colt trained by Briley, has now grabbed the top qualifying spot for the May 3 Kentucky Derby, after winning the $1.25 million Rebel Stakes Sunday at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Briley, 72, who resides in the Washington-Grand Prairie area, has overseen the racing development for Coal Battle, a bay-colored colt that has won three straight top-tier thoroughbred races since December..
The come-from-behind win Sunday at Oaklawn, elevated the career earnings for the Robbie Norman-owned Coal Battle to $1.885 million.
It was Briley, who in 2023, was sent by Norman with another trainer, Jayde Gelner, to purchase thoroughbreds at an annual Texas Thoroughbred Association yearling sale.
Briley has said that he spotted Coal Battle at the sale, liked his stance and demeanor and recommended him to Norman, an Alabama supermarket owner, who paid $70,000 for the Kentucky-bred colt.
At the same sale, for another $75,000, Gelner brought back Secret Faith, a filly who is now 7-1 in her Norman-owned racing career.
In a story written by Karen Johnson, Briley admitted that like other trainers, he always thought about one day training a horse that reached the starting gates at the Derby.
“In all honesty, I never, never ever considered the Derby, you know? I never thought I’d have a horse to go to the Derby. 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,” Briley said in the interview.
For much of his 35 years as a trainer, Briley was well known as a horseman at Evangeline Downs, Delta Downs and the FairGrounds tracks.
In 1991 Briley began working as a farm manager in Opelousas for the late John Franks.
At this point, Coal Battle, bred by Jay Adcock and Hume Warnall, is at Oaklawn and making a difference for Briley, Norman and jockey Juan Vargas, who has ridden the colt to during all the Derby-qualifying victories since Dec. 13.
Adcock said that what Coal Battle has accomplished so far is noteworthy.
“They keep throwing challenges at him and he keeps stepping up. To get a horse like that from what you could say are modest beginnings and compete at the upper levels, is not that easy. “When you get that chance, the best thing to do is sit back and enjoy it,” Adcock said on Monday.
Adcock said Briley brings a blend of versatility and knowledge to the horse industry.
“I know that (Briley) is a guy who can just about do it all. He’s worked with breaking, foals and anything else you needed,” said Adcock.
The Rebel Stakes victory earned Coal Battle 50 points, making the horse the current leader in races that are considered qualifying matchups for automatic Derby berths.
Coal Battle’s winning streak has included a victory in the Nov. 8 Jean Lafitte Stakes and a five-furlong off-dirt victory at Evangeline Downs on July 25.
Briley seems intrigued by the personality of Coal Battle, a horse that Vargas has said is getting better with every racing experience.
“(Coal Battle) has a pretty little expression on him. He’s kind of unique, I guess. He’s really a cool little horse,” Briley said in the interview with Johnson.
Briley describes Coal Battle as a horse who is also seemingly more comfortable with breaking slow and then making his move later.
Although that might seem risky, Briley said that so far, the strategy has worked, at least with Vargas aboard.
Acadiana-area horse owner Jake Delhomme said he’s seen Coal Battle run and the horse is impressive.
“He’s what I would call a solid horse and he’s obviously talented. I would compare (Coal Battle) to someone like Emmitt Smith, who was nice-sized running back, solid but not tall. Coal Battle is built like that. He runs his own race. That’s what the good ones do,” said Delhomme, who played quarterback in the NFL.
Adcock and Delhomme have both known Briley.
“I’ve been knowing Mr. Lonnie for a long time. I’ve followed him. He’s soft spoken, quiet and he’s been around the equine industry for years,” Delhomme said.
The next planned race for Coal Battle, Briley said, is in the March 29 Arkansas Derby.
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