Blackout Time leads McPeek's rare run of 2-year-old success
?q=100)
Trainer Kenny McPeek would land far down the list of trainers focused on sending out 2-year-old debut winners. The McPeek barn last weekend at Ellis Park sent out two juvenile first-time starters to victory, but it was second-time starter Blackout Time who drew the rave reviews.
Blackout Time debuted June 29 in a Churchill sprint and finished second, beaten a couple oflengths in a standout performance from the late Dazzle d’Oro. McPeek stretched Blackout Time to one mile this past weekend to great effect: Blackout Time pressed the pace, took over easily before the quarter pole, and drew smoothly clear to win by 9 3/4 lengths. His time of 1:37.12 produced an 83 Beyer Speed Figure, a strong route number for an August 2-year-old.
“He’s beyond special at this stage,” said McPeek, who trains Blackout Time for Brookdale Racing and Lance Gasaway. “He’s done everything right from Day 1. We’re contemplating whether to come back in the Iroquois or wait for the Breeders’ Futurity.”
The $300,000 Iroquois, a one-turn mile, comes up Sept. 13 at Churchill Downs. Keeneland hosts the Grade 1, $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity, contested around two turns at 1 1/16 miles, on Oct. 4.
Blackout Time is by Not This Time and out of Beauty Parlor, a graded stakes winner over 1 1/2 miles on grass. Stamina concerns might not apply here.
Our Two Girls, by Caravaggio, won a filly sprint immediately before Blackout Time’s race, going straight to the front and never facing an anxious moment on the way to a 2 1/4-length score. The filly, by Caravaggio, got a 63 Beyer.
Brian Hernandez Jr. rode both of those maiden winners and got another for McPeek on Aug. 3, when the filly Soloist overcame some traffic trouble to post a half-length score in a 1 1/16-mile grass race. Her Beyer, 66, is quite high for a 2-year-old Ellis grass route, and even at that doesn’t fully speak to the nature of her victory. Soloist is by Into Mischief and out of Daddy’s Little Darling, who won three graded turf-route stakes for McPeek, including the Grade 1 American Oaks. Soloist has the $1 million Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies on Aug. 31 as a near-term goal.
“I really think she only went into it at 80 percent [ready],” McPeek said. “She’s a smaller version of her mother. Same mindset, might even be a little more balanced.”
Soloist is the first horse McPeek has trained for Coolmore. She campaigns for Mrs. John Magner, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor.
“I’ve had a relationship with them to some extent for quite awhile, and I really admire the work they do,” McPeek said. “Real honored to have a horse for them.”
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.