Kenny McPeek | Horse Racing Free Tips

Crazy Beautiful Gives McPeek Back-To-Back Gulfstream Park Oaks Triumphs

Phoenix Thoroughbred III's Crazy Beautiful rallied from last to score a convincing victory in Saturday's $200,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), providing trainer Ken McPeek his second straight success in the 1 1/16-mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., track.

The Gulfstream Oaks was one of 10 stakes on Saturday's program that was headlined by the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa. The Oaks is a Road to the Kentucky Oaks qualifying race that offered 170 points on a 100-40-20-10 scale.

Crazy Beautiful earned her way into the April 30 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs by following in the hoofprints of McPeek-trained Swiss Skydiver, who captured last year's Gulfstream Oaks winner, who went on to beat the boys in the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico.

“We were here a year ago. I was really proud of that win,” McPeek said. “Maybe we can accomplish half as much this year.”

Crazy Beautiful, who finished second in the seven-furlong Davona Dale (G2) Feb. 27 in her 2021 debut, was rated in seventh and last as Con Lima, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., set the fractions of 24.16 and 48.69 seconds for the first half-mile while stalked by Bow Wow Girl and Pens Street. Millefeuille bad a bold move between horses leaving the backstretch and pulled alongside a tiring Con Lima on the turn into the homestretch before opening a clear lead at the top of the stretch. Crazy Beautiful, the 2-1 second choice ridden by Jose Ortiz who had steadily advanced into contention, was sent between horses to get a clear run in the stretch and kicked in powerfully to overtake Millefeuille.

“I just wanted to sit there and make sure she got into a good rhythm on the backstretch and she did. I saved some ground on the first turn and I saved some ground on the second turn,” said Ortiz following his third stakes victory of the afternoon. “Kenny told me that she was a nice filly, so I rode her with confidence.”

The daughter of Liam's Map scored by 2 ½ lengths while running 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.41.

“I thought Jose rode her perfect today. He got her in a nice rhythm. I told him, 'Don't be in a hurry. Don't force anything. Get her in a nice rhythm.' He did that,” McPeek said. “She was a little farther back than she's normally been, but she's got a lot of turn of foot.”

Millefeuille finished second, 1 ¾ lengths ahead of late-closing Competitive Speed. Con Lima finished fourth.

Crazy Beautiful had a productive 2020 campaign, during which she was graded stakes-placed twice, including a second-place finish behind Simply Ravishing, also a McPeek trainee, in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. Simply Ravishing, who was nominated to the Gulfstream Park Oaks, is scheduled to prep for the Kentucky Oaks in the Ashland (G1) at Keeneland April 3.

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Champion Swiss Skydiver Makes Triumphant Return In Beholder Mile

Mission accomplished. Idle since a disappointing run in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland Nov. 7, trainer Ken McPeek's reigning Eclipse Champion Filly Swiss Skydiver saved ground early and went on to register a powerful 2 ¾-length victory in Saturday's G1, $300,000 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita. Ridden by Robby Albarado, the 4-year-old filly by Daredevil got the distance in 1:36.18 as she cruised to the wire with her ears pricked.

With Bob Baffert's Golden Principal hustled to the lead from her number two post position, Swiss Skydiver, breaking from the rail, was attentive to the pace while fourth, just 2 ½ length off the lead around the clubhouse turn. Third at the rail, two lengths off of Golden Principal midway around the turn, Swiss Skydiver angled three-wide turning for home and surged to the front approaching the furlong pole as she went on to a very impressive win.

“Being on the inside, circumstances dictate that you need to get away clean to get some kind of a forward position,” said Albarado, who has now ridden her in her last three races, including a sensational neck victory over eventual Horse of the Year Authentic in the G1 Preakness Stakes Oct. 3. “I knew we had speed in the race but if I could get her in position, get her to clip off twelves every eighth (of a mile), she comes home pretty fast.

“Pretty much up the backside, every point I felt like she was right there with me the whole way. She was taking deep breaths around there. When I finally gave her some room there she took off. It was all her, I was just a passenger. … I look forward for the rest of the year with her.”

A winner of last year's G2 Santa Anita Oaks in June, Swiss Skydiver went on to win a pair of G1 races and a total of total of five graded stakes on the year. Off at 7-5 in a field of seven older fillies and mares on Saturday, she paid $4.80, $2.60 and $2.20.

“Yes, she met expectations, but you never know,” said McPeek, who has been at Santa Anita since Swiss Skydiver shipped in from her Gulfstream Park base on Tuesday. “The distance for me was a little bit of a worry because of the run to the first turn. But Robby does know her so well, to get her in 12s, just get her into a nice rhythm and let her make her run. You can't force anything with her, and if you go too fast early, she will wilt a little bit.

“She cruises through everything, even when she gallops. The feed tub's the biggest deal with her. I've never had a horse, colt or filly, eat like she does. It just makes my job so much easier.”

When asked where Swiss Skydiver, who ran at nine different tracks in 10 races last year, might make her next start, McPeek responded: “Maybe the Apple Blossom (G1 at Oaklawn Park April 17), maybe the La Troienne (G1 at Churchill Downs April 30), one of those two. … She's just really good, maybe we'll go hunt Monomoy Girl (2020 Eclipse Champion Older Dirt Female) now, we'll see.”

Purchased for $35,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling and owned by Peter J. Callahan, Swiss Skydiver, who is out of the More Than Ready mare Expo Gold, now has three G1 wins, and an overall mark of 13-7-3-1. With the Beholder winner's share of $180,000, she increased her earnings to $2,025,480.

Ridden by Mike Smith, As Time Goes By rallied five-wide turning for home and bested her stablemate Golden Principal by 1 ¾ lengths while never threatening the winner. The second choice in the wagering at 9-5, As Time Goes By paid $3.40 and $2.80.

Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Golden Principal did the heavy lifting early and tired late, but finished 2 ½ lengths clear of Harvest Moon. Off at 7-1, Golden Principal paid $3.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 23.14, 46.80, 1:11.19 and 1:23.54.

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Jesus’ Team Breezes In Preparation For Dubai World Cup; Rosario To Ride

Grupo 7C Racing Stable's Jesus' Team breezed six furlongs at Palm Meadows Training Center on Saturday morning, three weeks before the son of Tapiture is scheduled to run in the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G3).

“He went perfect, just like I wanted,” trainer Jose D'Angelo said. “He was spectacular on the gallop-out, faster than he finished. I think we're going to have a great trip to Dubai with him.”

Jesus' Team was timed in 1:14.45 for his third breeze at Gulfstream Park's satellite training center in Palm Beach County since finishing second behind Knicks Go in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) Jan. 23 at Gulfstream.

“He'll have one more work, an easy seven furlongs next week,” D'Angelo said. “This morning, I liked what I saw.”

Joel Rosario will have the mount aboard the multiple Grade 1 stakes-placed 4-year-old in the March 27 Dubai World Cup.

“I'm very happy to have Joel ride Jesus' Team,” D'Angelo said. “Joel is a great rider.”

Jesus' Team, who broke his maiden for a $32,000 claiming price in his first start for D'Angelo at Gulfstream last March, has been stakes-placed in his last six starts, including a third-place finish in the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico and second-place finishes behind Knicks Go in both the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Keeneland and the Pegasus World Cup.

Jesus' Team is scheduled to leave Gulfstream for Dubai March 16, while his trainer plans to leave the day before.

“I want to be there when he gets there,” D'Angelo said.

At Gulfstream Park Saturday morning, 2020 Preakness (G1) winner Swiss Skydiver produced at 'bullet' five-furlong workout in preparation for her 2021 debut. The Kenny McPeek-trained 2020 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G1) winner was timed in 58.09 seconds, the fastest clocking of 39 at the distance.

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Uncle Mo’s Envoutante All by Herself in Falls City

Envoutante added to a big year for both her trainer and sire, turning in a dominant front-running performance under the Twin Spires Thursday. Wasting no time seizing the early advantage from her rail post, the dark bay doled out opening splits of :24.25 and :48.95. She shut the door on her competition heading for home, and cantered clear from there to assert her superiority. Odds-on Bonny South, who took the GII Fair Grounds Oaks earlier this term and was most recently second to Envoutante’s stablemate Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Alabama S. before a narrow second in the GII Black-Eyed Susan S. Oct. 3, again had to settle for second best at odds-on.

“It was my first time on her for a race, but I’ve worked her and worked against her before, too, with Swiss Skydiver,” noted winning pilot Brian Hernandez, Jr. “She really kicked away from the field today and was very dominant. At the three-eighths pole I got her into the bit again and she just kicked away. Riding for [trainer] Kenny [McPeek] is easy and he didn’t really give a lot of instructions. When the gates opened, she put herself into a great spot.”

Envoutante was a romping third-out graduate at Gulfstream in April, and took a local allowance two starts later May 29. She was third in Keeneland’s GI Ashland S. July 11, and fourth in the Aug. 15 Alabama. She made the grade in the Sept. 27 GIII Remington Park Oaks, scoring from off the pace as a heavy favorite.

“She was one-for-one at Churchill coming into this race,” said McPeek, who has also been represented this year by a granddaughter of Envoutante’s sire Uncle Mo in GI Darley Alcibiades S. romper Simply Ravishing (Laoban). “We were very confident by the way she was working in the mornings and hoping she was going to put it together in the afternoon. She’s worked against Swiss Skydiver and has really done well in her training. She’s done a lot of traveling this year and got her graded stakes win in the Remington Oaks so winning another one was very special.”

Thursday, Churchill Downs
FALLS CITY S.-GII, $200,000, Churchill Downs, 11-26, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:49.11, ft.
1–ENVOUTANTE, 118, f, 3, by Uncle Mo
                1st Dam: Enchante (MSP, $154,172), by Bluegrass Cat
                2nd Dam: Wear, by Arch
                3rd Dam: Abrade, by Mr. Prospector
($250,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). O-Walking L Thoroughbreds, LLC &
Three Chimneys Farm; B-Jumping Jack Racing LLC (KY);
T-Kenneth G. McPeek; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. $120,280.
Lifetime Record: GISP, 9-4-1-2, $336,028. Werk Nick Rating: A.
   Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Bonny South, 120, f, 3, Munnings–Touch the Star, by Tapit.
O/B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $38,800.
3–Another Broad, 121, m, 5, Include–Dynamic Deputy, by
Deputy Minister. ($340,000 4yo ’19 KEENOV). O-Farfellow
Farm, Ltd.; B-Fitzhugh, LLC (MD); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$19,400.
Margins: 6, 3HF, HD. Odds: 2.60, 0.80, 24.70.
Also Ran: Our Super Freak, Smooth With a Kick, Over Thinking, Market Rumor, Cash Out. Scratched: High Regard. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

Pedigree Notes:
Envoutante is one of 14 graded stakes winners this year–tops in North America–for Coolmore’s Uncle Mo. She is one of six graded winners out of Bluegrass Cat mares. Dam Enchante was a hard-knocking MSP sprinter and hails from the female family of Forty Niner. She has an unraced 2-year-old filly named Marla (Frosted) and a yearling colt by Classic Empire. Enchante was bred to Uncle Mo’s son Nyquist for 2021.

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