Trainer Ken McPeek has four Kentucky Derby hopefuls in his barn, his largest number in 37 years of conditioning Thoroughbreds. According to the Daily Racing Form, two of those four have become workmates: G2 Kentucky Jockey Club winner Smile Happy and G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Tiz The Bomb.
The pair has breezed in unison at Gulfstream Park for the past two weeks, both earning a four-furlong time of :48.90 on Jan. 8, and Tiz The Bomb recording a slightly-faster three-furlong time of :37.84 on New Year's Day (Smile Happy was clocked in :38.46).
Smile Happy (Runhappy) will be aimed at the G3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 5, while a prep race has not been decided upon for Tiz The Bomb (Hit It A Bomb).
Dash Attack (Munnings), winner of the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park, will remain in Hot Springs to point toward the G3 Southwest Stakes on Jan. 29.
Meanwhile, G1 Breeders' Futurity winner Rattle N Roll (Connect) has not yet returned to breezing since missing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile due to a minor injury, but McPeek believes there will be plenty of time to get the colt on the Derby trail.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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