After impressive Falls City win, Envoutante will stay in training for 2022

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Envoutante, who became the first horse in 30 years to win the Falls City in back-to-back years by dominating the Grade 2 race again Thursday, will have the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park next April as the first major goal of a 5-year-old campaign, trainer Ken McPeek said early Friday. The Uncle Mo filly earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for her six-length romp in the slop.

“If she hadn’t run as well as she did, we probably would’ve had her bred,” McPeek said. “But she gave every indication she could be a top horse next year, so we’ll keep going with her.”

It’s been a huge year for McPeek, who through Thursday was on pace to exceed his career record set in 2002 for stable earnings in a single year ($6.6 million). With 16 stakes wins in 2021, half of them graded, from horses such as Rattle N Roll, Crazy Beautiful, King Fury, Tiz the Bomb, and the retired Swiss Skydiver, life is fantastic for a self-made horseman who began training in 1985.

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Not all is perfect, however, as McPeek reported that Blame Virginia, a promising winner of the Debutante Stakes at Churchill in June, recently was euthanized.

“She fractured her shoulder one morning at Keeneland,” he said. “Really sad.”

As for Rattle N Roll, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in October, the Connect colt will be back in training in Florida within the next couple of weeks following a minor setback, McPeek said.