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.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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Smarty Jones Winner Dash Attack Strengthens McPeek’s 3-Year-Old Arsenal

Kenny McPeek has a problem, but it's a good problem for a trainer on New Year's Day. McPeek enters 2022 with several live Kentucky Derby prospects to maneuver, including Oaklawn-based Dash Attack, who celebrated his birthday at the Hot Springs, Ark., track with a victory in Saturday's $250,000 Smarty Jones Stakes for 3-year-olds to remain unbeaten in two career starts.

Dash Attack's victory came a little over a month after stablemate Smile Happy won the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) for 2-year-olds at Churchill Downs to remain unbeaten in two lifetime starts. McPeek's arsenal of newly turned 3-year-olds also features Rattle N Roll, winner of the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (G1) Oct. 9 at Keeneland, and Tiz the Bomb, who broke his maiden by 14 ¼ lengths on dirt at a mile last summer at Ellis Park before becoming a Grade 2 winner on grass.

“I'm in a pretty enviable position right now,” McPeek said.

Ridden by David Cohen, Dash Attack ($17.40) was a two-length winner of the Smarty Jones, which marked Oaklawn's first of four Kentucky Derby points races. Barber Road finished second, a length clear of Ignitis. It was a nose farther back to Kavod in fourth.

Dash Attack collected 10 qualifying points for the victory and ranks eighth on the latest official Kentucky Derby leaderboard compiled by Churchill Downs. Rattle N Roll (10) and Smile Happy (10) are second and fifth, respectively. The Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters, with points earned in designated races like the one-mile Smarty Jones used to determine starting preference.

Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby points series continues with the $750,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles Jan. 29. McPeek said early last month that Smile Happy was under consideration for the Southwest, but that was shortly before Dash Attack won his Dec. 5 career debut at Oaklawn. Now, the Munnings colt is armed with two victories at a mile, one coming in a Kentucky Derby points race.

Smile Happy, meanwhile, is with McPeek's Florida division and returned to the work tab Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park, where he covered three furlongs in :38.46. Tiz the Bomb went 3 furlongs in :37.84 Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park.

“Nothing is set in stone with this, with any of them, as you know,” McPeek said by phone from Florida following the Smarty Jones. “Right now, Smile Happy is still just getting ready. He just had a little three-eighths, out an eighth, today. The next couple of weeks we'll step him up. We'll figure it out. If they go together, they go together and if they don't, they don't.”

McPeek already owns victories in two legs of the Triple Crown – Sarava (2002 Belmont) and Swiss Skydiver (2020 Preakness) – but he's still seeking his first Kentucky Derby victory. His best finish with six starters to date is Tejano Run, the 1995 runner-up.

McPeek's strong hand of early 2022 Kentucky Derby candidates only got stronger with Saturday's performance by Dash Attack, who was facing winners for the first time.

“He definitely jumped into the conversation,” McPeek said. “Smile Happy's a very good horse. Most years you would want to have all these horses separated in different years. I've always watched guys like, whether it was Wayne Lukas years back, and there's others, obviously, Bob Baffert, and others. You look up and all of a sudden you've got that group of horses and they're all coming together. Look, a lot can happen. We're just going to try and keep it steady and not overthink it and let the horses take us where they're going to take us.”

Dash Attack races for his breeders, Richard Greenberg (Catalyst Stable) and McPeek's wife, Sherri (Magdalena Racing), along with Kevin Pollard and Patty Slevin. Dash Attack was raised at Kenny McPeek's Magdalena Farm in Kentucky.

McPeek said “little issues early in his 2-year-old year” delayed Dash Attack's racing debut. The colt has maintained a steady work pattern the last month, recording seven published breezes since Nov. 3, the last two coming in December at Oaklawn.

“He just was immature,” McPeek said. “We actually sent him to the farm a couple of times because I felt like he wasn't ready. He's just a little bit later bloomer, but he's always been a big, strong, gorgeous horse to look at and be around. I think our patience has paid well. If we had pressed him earlier in the year, he certainly wouldn't be doing what he's doing now.”

Although by Munnings, a multiple Grade 2-winning sprinter, McPeek said he believed Dash Attack was a two-turn horse. McPeek also trained Dash Attack's dam, Cerce Cay, who broke her maiden at 1 1/8 miles on the turf in 2012 at Churchill Downs.

“She had quite a bit of talent,” McPeek said. “The other interesting thing about this horse is that we raised this horse. We partnered in on his mare. We're involved in breeding with Rick Greenberg, so we bred him and raised him at Magdalena. Where he came from is pretty special. Most of my m.o. is that I buy horses at auction. In his case, he came from Magdalena Farm.”

Dash Attack received a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 82 for his victory in the Smarty Jones, which drew a record 13 starters. His winning time over a sloppy track was 1:39.44. Dash Attack, who is named after the 4-year-old grandson of Greenberg's fiancée, Linda Hamilton, has earned $205,440.

John Ortiz, who trains Barber Road, said immediately following the Smarty Jones that he plans to keep the Race Day colt in Oaklawn's Kentucky Derby prep series.

Oaklawn's final two Kentucky Derby points races are the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles Feb. 26 and the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1) at 1 1/8 miles April 2.

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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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Tiz The Bomb Made 3-1 Morning Line Favorite For Kentucky Jockey Club

Phoenix Thoroughbreds' $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (Grade 1) runner-up Tiz the Bomb was tabbed as the 3-1 morning line favorite in Saturday's 95th running of the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club, the featured event on Saturday's “Stars of Tomorrow II” program at Churchill Downs.

Trained by two-time Kentucky Jockey Club-winning conditioner Kenny McPeek, Tiz the Bomb finished second by 1 ½ lengths to Modern Games in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf when he rallied from more than seven lengths off the early pace.

“We've always thought highly of him from the start,” jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said. “Before the (Juvenile Turf) he handled things professionally when we were waiting behind the gate during the scratch situation. He ran a really good effort to finish second after we got back a little bit farther than we planned at the start.”

Bettors were rewarded with Tiz the Bomb's 7-1 mutuel price in the Juvenile Turf after Modern Games was mistakenly scratched from the tote system but allowed to run for purse money only.

Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club will award points to the Top 4 finishers on a 10-4-2-1 scale toward a spot in the starting gate in the Derby. McPeek has made six starts in the Kentucky Derby and finished second in 1995 with Tejano Run.

“We've been on the Road to the Kentucky Derby before and it's always exciting,” McPeek said. “We have three really nice horses so far this year in Rattle N Roll along with Tiz the Bomb and Smile Happy, who are in the Jockey Club.”

McPeek won the 2018 edition of the Kentucky Jockey Club with Signalman and in 2001 with Repent.

The Kentucky Jockey Club will go as Race 11 of 12 with a post time of 5:56 p.m. (all times Eastern). First post is 1 p.m.

Here's the complete field for the Kentucky Jockey Club from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): Classic Causeway (Joel Rosario, Brian Lynch, 7-2); Guntown (Tyler Gaffalione, Steve Asmussen, 15-1); Rich Strike (Rafael Bejarano, Eric Reed, 50-1); Texas Red Hot (Julien Leparoux, Randy Morse, 12-1); Howling Time (Joe Talamo, Dale Romans, 7-2); Tiz the Bomb (Hernandez, McPeek, 3-1); Vivar (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 12-1); Smile Happy (Corey Lanerie, McPeek, 12-1); Red Knobs (Ricardo Santana Jr., Romans, 15-1); White Abarrio (Edgard Zayas, Saffie Joseph, 8-1); Ready Pursuit (Martin Garcia, Jerry Antonuik, 50-1); Ben Diesel (Jon Court, Dallas Stewart, 15-1); Mannix (IRE) (Edwin Gonzalez, Mark Casse, 20-1); and Call Me Midnight (Chris Landeros, Keith Desormeaux, 15-1).

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