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Smile Happy Tops Individual Options Ahead Of Second Kentucky Derby Future Wager

Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”) is set to open at noon Friday with the pari-mutuel field of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” tabbed as the heavy 7-5 morning line favorite.

The second of five pools for the KDFW will run for three days through Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Bettors can place win and exacta wagers at simulcast outlets throughout the country and online at TwinSpires.com, the official ADW of Churchill Downs Incorporated.

Like in Pool 1, the KDFW pools assumes that horses under the care of trainers suspended from competing in the 2022 Kentucky Derby will not be under consideration.

Lucky Seven Stable's $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (Grade 2) winner Smile Happy was installed as the 8-1 individual Pool 2 favorite by morning line oddsmaker Mike Battaglia. Trained by Kenny McPeek, Smile Happy is based at Gulfstream Park in South Florida and has been steadily working toward his 3-year-old debut. Smile Happy is one of four McPeek-trained colts in Pool 2. The others are Dash Attack (20-1), Rattle N Roll (30-1) and Tiz the Bomb (20-1).

In Pool 1, Smile Happy closed as the 8-1 individual favorite behind “All Other Colts and Geldings,” who was the odds-on 3-5 betting choice. Total handle for the Nov. 25-28 KDFW pool was $326,448 ($263,008 in the Win pool and $63,440 in Exactas), which was up 30.9 percent from last year's $249,331.

Here's the complete Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 field (with trainer and morning line odds): #1 Chasing Time (Steve Asmussen, 20-1); #2 Classic Causeway (Brian Lynch, 30-1); #3 Commandperformance (Todd Pletcher, 50-1); #4 Courvoisier (Kelly Breen, 30-1); #5 Dash Attack (McPeek, 20-1); #6 Emmanuel (Pletcher, 50-1); #7 Epicenter (Asmussen, 15-1); #8 Giant Game (Dale Romans, 30-1); #9 High Oak (Bill Mott, 50-1); #10 Jack Christopher (Chad Brown, 10-1); #11 Major General (Pletcher, 50-1); #12 Make It Big (Saffie Joseph Jr., 50-1); #13 Mo Donegal (Pletcher, 12-1); #14 Pappacap (Mark Casse, 20-1); #15 Rattle N Roll (McPeek, 30-1); #16 Simplification (Antonio Sano, 30-1); #17 Slow Down Andy (Doug O'Neill, 15-1); #18 Smile Happy (McPeek, 8-1); #19 Tiz the Bomb (McPeek, 20-1); #20 Trafalgar (Al Stall Jr., 50-1); #21 Varatti (Pletcher, 50-1); #22 White Abarrio (Joseph, 50-1); #23 Zandon (Brown, 12-1); and #24 “All Other 3-Year-Olds” (7-5).

The pari-mutuel field for the first pool of the New Year has closed as the bettors' choice every year since the wager was inaugurated in 1999, and the final odds were 5-2 in five of the last seven years.

There are nine new individual interests from Pool 1 in the KDFW. They are first-level allowance winner Chasing Time; Jerome winner Courvoisier; Smarty Jones winner Dash Attack; debut maiden winner Emmanuel; Saratoga Special winner High Oak; Remington Springboard Mile winner Make It Big; Mucho Macho Man winner Simplification; Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) winner Slow Down Andy; and Kentucky Jockey Club third White Abarrio.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wagers provide fans of Thoroughbred racing with opportunities to place bets on possible entrants in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at odds that could be far greater and more attractive than those available on the day of the race. The 148th running of Kentucky Derby, America's greatest race and the first leg of the Triple Crown, is set for Saturday, May 7 at Churchill Downs.

There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week's four-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.

The other Future Wager dates are set for Feb. 11-13 (Pool 3), March 11-13 (Pool 4) and March 31-April 2 (Pool 5). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 4 on March 11-13.

More information, Brisnet.com past performances and real-time odds on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be available before the pool opens Friday online at https://www.kentuckyderby.com/wager/future-wager.

The post Smile Happy Tops Individual Options Ahead Of Second Kentucky Derby Future Wager appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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McPeek Duo Ready for Holy Bull

Lucky Seven Stable's Smile Happy (Run Happy) and Phoenix Thoroughbreds LTD's Tiz the Bomb (Hit It A Bomb) breezed in company at Gulfstream Saturday morning ahead of a likely encounter in the GIII Holy Bull S. Feb. 5.

GSWs Smile Happy and Tiz the Bomb were timed in :46.32 seconds, the third fastest of 83 workouts recorded at the distance Saturday.

“It was a nice maintenance work,” said trainer Kenny McPeek. “They went a little quicker than I wanted them to. I gave them instructions to go in about :48, but it's Ok. They're doing good.”

The breeze was the fourth in a series of workouts at Gulfstream for the workmates.

“I may have to run them against each other in the Holy Bull to get the year started,” McPeek said. “At this point, I'm planning to run both.”

Smile Happy won both of his career starts impressively, closing from far back to break his maiden at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland Oct. 29 before rallying from mid-pack to capture the 1 1/16-mile GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. by 3 1/4 length at Churchill Downs Nov. 27.

Tiz the Bomb broke his maiden on dirt by 14 1/2 lengths going a mile at Ellis July 2 before taking the Kentucky Downs Juvenile S. in September and Keeneland's GII Bourbon S. Oct. 10. He concluded his 2021 season with a strong second-place finish behind Eclipse finalist Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Nov. 5 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. A minor injury forced the bay to bypass last fall's Kentucky Jockey Club.

“He's done great with his little break,” added McPeek. “He had a slight nick on his leg that we had to address with some

simple clean up and antibiotics last fall. He's back into a 3-year-old routine now. He's had a little three eights and a couple of half miles, and he's hitting on all cylinders already, so it's very exciting.”

Asked how Tiz the Bomb might fare on the dirt, McPeek affirmed, “He's not going to have any trouble handling dirt. He's out of a Tiz Now mare and his top line is War Front and they handle dirt fine. I think this horse can run on any surface and he handled the dirt for his maiden win. I think the question is, really, how good can he be on the dirt, too?”

He continued, “The Holy Bull looks like an ideal starting point for him. We need to get some points and ideally, he'd then come back in the [GII] Fountain of Youth [S. Mar. 5]. The dream scenario would be he'd go Holy Bull, Fountain Of Youth then the [GI] Florida Derby [Apr. 2], but we'll see.”

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Workmates Smile Happy, Tiz The Bomb Both Aimed At Holy Bull

Lucky Seven Stable's Smile Happy and Phoenix Thoroughbreds LTD's Tiz the Bomb breezed sharply in company at Gulfstream Park Saturday morning for a likely clash Feb. 5 in the $200,000 Holy Bull (G3) Feb. 5.

Smile Happy, the undefeated winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), and Tiz the Bomb, a graded-stakes winner who finished second the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) last time out, were timed in 46.32 seconds, the third fastest clockings of 83 workouts recorded at the distance.

“It was a nice maintenance work. They went a little quicker than I wanted them to. I gave them instructions to go in about 48,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “But it's okay. They're doing good.”

The breeze was the fourth in a series of workouts at Gulfstream for the workmates.

“You need a fast horse to go with a fast horse,” McPeek said. “You can't work a fast horse with a slow horse.”

While Smile Happy and Tiz the Bomb have teamed in their workouts, they may well become rivals in the Holy Bull, the first graded-stakes for 3-year-olds on the Road to the Curlin Florida Derby (G1).

“I may have to run them against each other in the Holy Bull to get the year started,” McPeek said. “At this point, I'm planning to run both.”

Smile Happy, a son of Runhappy, has won both of his career starts in going-away style, closing from far back to break his maiden at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 29 at Keeneland before rallying from mid-pack to capture the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club by 3 ¼ length at Churchill Downs Nov. 27.

Tiz the Bomb broke his maiden on dirt by 14 ½ lengths in a mile race at Ellis Park in his second career start July 2 before going on to win the Kentucky Downs Juvenile and Bourbon (G2) at Keeneland on turf. The son of Hit It A Bomb concluded his 2021 season with a late-surging second-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Del Mar.

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Ken McPeek Plotting Courses For Four Kentucky Derby Hopefuls

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.