Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes | Horse Racing Free Tips

McPeek: Smile Happy Likely To Target Southwest Stakes En Route To Kentucky Derby

Trainer Kenny McPeek said early Thursday afternoon that he had eight horses stabled at Oaklawn and expects to eventually have “20ish” on the grounds for the 2021-2022 meeting that began Friday.

McPeek has a division of horses at Oaklawn for the first time since 2018, when he won five races from 32 starts. McPeek said Oaklawn's expanded racing calendar was the hook to return to Hot Springs. Oaklawn is opening in December for the first time and has 66 scheduled racing dates, roughly 10 more than past years. Oaklawn had previously opened in mid to late January. The 2021-2022 live season ends May 8.

“The December start date completely changes the complexion of the Oaklawn meet,” McPeek said. “I think it's a big help. You're there longer. As long as they can get the races that you need to go … I know it's a bit of an experiment, but I think it's a really good move on their part.”

McPeek returns to Oaklawn with momentum after winning four races, including the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) with Smile Happy, on the “Stars of Tomorrow II” program exclusively for 2-year-olds last Saturday at Churchill Downs. The four-bagger helped swell McPeek's purse earnings this year to a career-high $6.7 million.

“Had a good meet,” McPeek said. “Had a good fall.”

Smile Happy, a son of champion sprinter Runhappy, remained unbeaten in two career starts with a 3 ¼-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club.

“He's a really, really good horse,” McPeek said. “He's going to go to Florida initially and we're probably going to bring him up for the Southwest and possibly the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby.”

The $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) Jan. 29, $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) Feb. 26 and $1 million Arkansas Derby (G1) April 2 conclude Oaklawn's four-race Kentucky Derby points series.

Smile Happy races for the Lucky Seven Stable of Mike Mackin, who campaigned 2001 Rebel winner Crafty Shaw with now-retired trainer Pete Vestal. Crafty Shaw also ran third in the Southwest and seventh in the Arkansas Derby.

McPeek is scheduled to start three horses Saturday at Oaklawn, including Oliviaofthedesert and Semble Juste in the inaugural $150,000 Mistletoe Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles. Laughing Boy, McPeek said, “will probably be entered” in the inaugural $150,000 Poinsettia Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 11 at Oaklawn. Laughing Boy finished second in a Nov. 25 allowance race at Churchill Downs.

“Horses just shipped in last night, but I'll be there for a little bit,” McPeek said. “I've got a team that's coming from my Churchill barn that's already there. We've only got eight in there right now, so we're getting them settled in. It's taken some time logistically to move everybody.”

With John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs as a major client, McPeek won 40 races in 2012-2017 at Oaklawn, including the $75,000 Arkansas Breeders' Stakes in 2015 with Trace Creek and the $125,000 Spring Fever Stakes in 2017 with Kathballu.

McPeek's last Oaklawn victory came with Swiss Skydiver in the $400,000 Fantasy Stakes (G3) in 2020. Swiss Skydiver went on to beat males in the Preakness – the final leg of the revamped Triple Crown – en route to an Eclipse Award as the country's champion 3-year-old filly of 2020.

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Smile Happy Gives McPeek Another Kentucky Jockey Club Win

The horse that brought Kenny McPeek to the winner's circle for the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs was not the one that most fans would have expected. Instead of Tiz the Bomb, who scratched out of the G2 stakes earlier Saturday, it was Smile Happy, a son of Runhappy, who brought McPeek his third win in the early prep race for the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

With the field scratched down from 14 to 11, Smile Happy broke from post eight, taking up position in fifth around the first turn and onto the backstretch. Setting early fractions of :23.95 and :48.74, early leader Howling Time had a 1 1/2 length lead down the backstretch, his lead shrinking as the field moved into the far turn.

Around the far turn, Smile Happy was among the challengers pressing Howling Time, who gave way as they approached the top of the stretch. Smile Happy went five-wide to find racing room to challenge, with Classic Causeway and Ben Diesel driving to his inside. Down the stretch, Smile Happy took the lead at the eighth pole and pulling away late to take the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club by 3 1/4 lengths. Classic Causeway was second and White Abarrio was third.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.94. Find this race's chart here.

Smile Happy paid $11.60, $4.60, and $3.60. Classic Causeway paid $3.40 and $2.80. White Abarrio paid $4.00.

Bred in Kentucky by Moreau Bloodstock International and White Bloodstock LLC, Smile Happy is out of the Pleasant Tap mare Pleasant Smile. He is owned by Lucky Seven Stable, who purchased him from Hunter Valley Farm for $185,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase. The Kentucky Jockey Club is his second win in his two lifetime starts, for career earnings of $284,810. Smile Happy earns 10 points toward the 2022 Kentucky Derby, with Classic Causeway getting four points, White Abarrio two points, and Ben Diesel one point for his fourth-place finish.

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Smiles, Everyone…Smiles

Smile Happy (Runhappy) built on a monster 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut victory on closing day at Keeneland Oct. 29 with an equally eye-catching score in Saturday's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. Saturday at Churchill Downs, establishing himself as one of the early favorites for the GI Kentucky Derby about six months down the road.

Welcome to Fantasy Island, Lucky Seven Stable.

A generous 24-5 third favorite despite the domination of that towering 5 1/2-length graduation, Smile Happy landed in about fifth spot, just ahead of centerfield, as Street Sense S. hero Howling Time (Not This Time) found his way to the front and galloped them along at a sensible pace. Guided out into the clear to punch the breeze four wide and covering favored Classic Causeway (Giant's Causeway) down the backstretch, Smile Happy traveled ominously well within the grasp of Corey Lanerie and was poised to pounce despite a wide passage around the second turn. Advancing on his own courage as the field neared the entrance to the stretch, Smile Happy circled up four deep, hit the front a furlong and a half from home under a left-handed stick and stayed on powerfully for the win. White Abbario (Race Day) was a game, but no-menace third.

“You'd think this horse ran 10 times already with how mature he acts,” Lanerie said. “He's very rateable and easy to ride. I felt very confident with him at the half-mile pole. I could tell I had a lot of horse beneath me. I got him into the right spot and he really kicked clear in the stretch. He's got a bright future.”

Smile Happy capped a four-timer on the afternoon for trainer Ken McPeek, who said that Smile Happy would follow the Florida route back to Churchill next spring.

“We'll probably take it easy with him in December and January and start deciding his future in February.” said McPeek, who also won the 2001 Kentucky Jockey Club with Repent (Louis Quatorze) and was forced to scratch morning-line favorite Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) Saturday morning. “At this stage we have a lot of options on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. It's a good problem to have.”

Pedigree Notes:

Smile Happy is the sixth black-type winner and second graded winner for the resurgent Runhappy, who also has GSW and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint third and fellow 'Rising Star' Following Sea flying the flag. The latter heads to next weekend's GI Cigar Mile H. at Aqueduct.

One of 49 winners for his sire this year, Smile Happy is out of a half-sister to SW Miracle Mets (Metfield) and is his dam's most recent produce.

Saturday, Churchill Downs
KENTUCKY JOCKEY CLUB S.-GII, $400,000, Churchill Downs, 11-27, 2yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.94, ft.
1–SMILE HAPPY, 122, c, 2, by Runhappy
1st Dam: Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap
2nd Dam: Relax and Smile, by Relaunch
3rd Dam: Bunch of Smiles, by Graustark
'TDN Rising Star' 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED
STAKES WIN. ($175,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $185,000 Ylg '20
FTKSEL). O-Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin); B-Moreau
Bloodstock Int'l Inc. & White Bloodstock LLC (KY); T-Kenneth
McPeek; J-Corey J. Lanerie. $234,410. Lifetime Record:
2-2-0-0, $284,810. Werk Nick Rating: First SW on this cross.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Classic Causeway, 122, c, 2, Giant's Causeway–Private
World, by Thunder Gulch. O-Kentucky West Racing LLC &
Clarke M. Cooper; B-Kentucky West Racing LLC & Clarke M.
Cooper Family Living Trust (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch. $76,100.
3–White Abarrio, 122, c, 2, Race Day–Catching Diamonds, by
Into Mischief. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($7,500 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $40,000 2yo '21 OBSMAR). O-C2
Racing Stable LLC & La Milagrosa Stable, LLC; B-Spendthrift
Farm, LLC (KY); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $38,050.
Margins: 3 1/4, 2 3/4, HF. Odds: 4.80, 1.40, 6.70.
Also Ran: Ben Diesel, Howling Time, Vivar, Call Me Midnight, Red Knobs, Guntown, Texas Red Hot, Ready Pursuit. Scratched: Mannix (Ire), Rich Strike, Tiz the Bomb.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Howling Time Looks to Remain Perfect in KY Jockey Club

Howling Time (Not This Time) will try to take his record to three-for-three as the likely favorite in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs Saturday. Graduating on debut sprinting at Churchill Sept. 25, the Albaugh Family Stables colorbearer took to two turns with aplomb, winning the Oct. 1 Street Sense S. by 3 1/4 lengths. Also exiting the Street Sense are third place Red Knobs (Union Rags) and fifth place Guntown (Gun Runner).

“We always thought he showed some promise in his training,” trainer Dale Romans said. “He was really impressive breaking his maiden back in September and proved it wasn't a fluke winning the Street Sense. His looks remind me a lot of his sire. He's got the size and stride that make them similar.”

Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb) gets back on dirt in this spot for the first time since his dominant maiden victory. Demolishing the field by 14 1/4 lengths in his second start in an off-the-turf test at Ellis July 2, the bay switched to the sod, winning the Sept. 6 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile and Oct. 10 GII Bourbon S. at Keeneland. He rallied from well back to be second last time in a controversial renewal of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf S. at Del Mar.

“Tiz the Bomb was impressive last out at Del Mar after dealing with all of the pre-race incidents in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf,” conditioner Ken McPeek said. “He's handled really anything we've thrown at him so far so going back to the dirt shouldn't be a problem for him.”

Classic Causeway, one of the final foals by the late, great Giant's Causeway, looks to become that legendary stallion's latest black-type winner. Earning his diploma by 6 1/2 lengths at Saratoga Sept. 4, the chestnut checked in third after setting the pace in Keeneland's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. Oct. 9.

“He's always been a horse that breaks sharp from the gate,” trainer Brian Lynch said. “We knew that going into the debut so it didn't really surprise us he broke on top like he did but it's always a pleasant surprise to see them win that impressively. Last out in the Breeders' Futurity, he was hung wide from the gate and he battled pretty hard on the lead through fast fractions. I thought he gamely held on for third after the field closed in on him. Going into this start I've been trying to get him to relax a little bit in his training. I've worked him behind horses and in company so he doesn't have to be on the engine.”

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