McPeek has spent decades searching for Risen Star favorite Smile Happy
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NEW ORLEANS – Kenny McPeek can’t stop trying new stuff.
Long before Wesley Ward, he ran American horses in England. He spent large chunks of time in South America, looking for high-class racing stock. He oversaw the develop of a racing app and has under his umbrella not one but two training centers and farms, in Kentucky and Florida. At base, McPeek remains a horse trainer, and all the out-the-box ventures aside, there would likely be nothing in his career to rival winning a Kentucky Derby.
McPeek, just 35 then, came close in 1995, when Tejano Run finished second, but he’s since gone 0 for 5 with no higher placing than a fifth and hasn’t run a horse in the Derby since 2013. He came into 2002 with a leading Derby hope, Repent, who won the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs to end his 2-year-old season and began his 3-year-old campaign with a victory in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds. An untimely ankle injury in the spring knocked Repent out of the Derby.
Twenty years later, the 2022 Risen Star on Saturday marks the 3-year-old debut of a colt, Smile Happy, that McPeek rates as highly as any Derby prospect to come under his care. Like Repent, Smile Happy won the KJC in November, and a victory here Saturday would punch the first leg of his ticket to the Triple Crown.
“This is a really, really nice colt,” McPeek said.
Smile Happy, the No. 1-ranked horse on Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch, debuted with an eye-catching dirt-route maiden win at Keeneland last fall, after which McPeek jumped him into the Grade 2 KJC, where Smile Happy cruised past strong opposition to win. Under Corey Lanerie, Smile Happy should be favored to beat nine rivals and take another step toward the Triple Crown.
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Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile Risen Star, a Grade 2 worth $400,000 with a 10-horse field, is no easy spot, but neither was the KJC. The race’s runner-up, Classic Causeway, came back to win the Sam Davis, while KJC third White Abarrio captured the Holy Bull and Call Me Midnight, seventh in the KJC, won the Lecomte here last month.
None of those were a match last fall for Smile Happy, whose chill vibe, tactical speed, and strong finishing kick afford him options during a race.
“He’ll do anything you ask,” McPeek said.
McPeek said the Risen Star and whatever the next race is for Smile Happy merely are bridges to the Triple Crown, but if this colt has progressed over the winter – and the appearance he made training late this week at Fair Grounds suggests he has – he’ll be a handful.
Zandon should be the second choice in the first Road to the Kentucky Derby race worth 85 points, distributed 50-20-10-5 to the top four finishers. Zandon has the physical characteristics of a route horse but possesses enough speed to have won his career debut over six furlongs. Trainer Chad Brown and owner Jeff Drown’s plan to go to the one-mile Nashua Stakes came apart when Zandon caught a bug the week of the race, but despite being diverted to the 1 1/8-mile Remsen, Zandon came within a nose of winning.
Zandon has matured mentally over the winter, Brown said, and trained with verve for his 2022 bow.
“He’s been working great this horse – great,” he said. Zandon “has the positional speed to put himself in races” and breaks from post 7, just inside Smile Happy, under Jose Ortiz.
Slow Down Andy carries the California banner and comes off a win in the Los Alamitos Futurity over Messier, who came back to crush rivals in the Robert Lewis Stakes. Slow Down Andy and jockey Mario Gutierrez are stuck out in post 10 but have enough speed to get into a decent position. Slow Down Andy raced green in his trio of 2-year-old starts and can improve by becoming more professional.
“He’s a horse from the word go with multiple gears,” said trainer Doug O’Neill.
Call Me Midnight upset the Jan. 22 Lecomte at the expense of Epicenter, who was undone by contesting a taxing early and middle pace but still missed only narrowly in a strong showing.
“He’s continued to say in a very good rhythm,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of Epicenter’s training. “I want him to be away from there cleanly and a little more relaxed than he was last time.”
Pappacap finished third as the Lecomte favorite after getting stuck along the inside part of the track for the third race in a row. Trainer Mark Casse wants an outside trip for Pappacap, who has a new rider, Tyler Gaffalione, but the colt, who might have developed earlier than many of his peers last summer, drew post 1.
Trafalgar, fourth in the Lecomte, races for the first time in blinkers, and the equipment change has helped produced encouraging recent morning work, trainer Al Stall Jr. said.
Russian Tank, Tawny Port, Pioneer of Medina, and Bodock complete the field.
The Risen Star is the last of 13 races, preceded by the Grade 2, $300,000 Rachel Alexandra and strong renewals of the Fair Grounds Stakes and the Mineshaft Stakes. First post is noon Central, and there’s no rain in the local forecast.