Trainer Kenny McPeek has been plotting courses for four 4-year-olds ready to make their 2023 debut. Rattle N Roll is headed to the New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds on March 26. Classic Causeway runs in the Essex on March 18 at Oaklawn Park. And Creative Minister and Smile Happy wind up in the featured eighth race Thursday at Oaklawn. The two McPeeks are among eight entered in the second-level allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option. The race, carded for 1 1/8 miles, should unfold at an honest tempo, with Camp David, Congressman, Speed Bias, and Seize the Night all likely to go forward. Creative Minister and Smile Happy have been training at Fair Grounds for their comebacks and both have logged enough workouts to be ready to win. “Creative Minister, he’s really developed a lot from 3 to 4,” McPeek said. “I’m excited about him and Smile Happy. It seemed like the best place for the first start of the year for both horses.” Creative Minister came around rapidly last spring and hit a high-water mark finishing third in the Preakness. He regressed when fifth in the Belmont, was a little flat in July and August stakes races, earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure just missing in the Bourbon Trail on Sept. 24 at Churchill Downs, and ended his campaign with a tame allowance performance at Keeneland. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  Creative Minister, in the eyes of his trainer, might have the better chance to return sharp from a layoff. “Creative Minister is very, very professional,” McPeek said. “He’s been working with Rattle N Roll and Classic Causeway.” Smile Happy hasn’t seen racing action since an eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. His layoff is longer than Creative Minister’s and he’s a less straightforward horse in the morning. “He can be a little quirky,” said McPeek. “He has days when he wants to do something – and days when he doesn’t.” Nonetheless, Smile Happy’s baseline talent might be higher than Creative Minister’s. At 2, the colt debuted with a maiden route win at Keeneland before capturing the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. At 3, he was a troubled second behind Epicenter in the Risen Star Stakes and already had begun slipping physically when he finished third in the Blue Grass. Smile Happy was over the top in the Derby – and then on the shelf with bone bruising. Thursday, he races for the first time on Lasix and gets the riding services of Francisco Arrieta, whose patient style should fit the colt. Not trained by McPeek, but well suited to nine furlongs and a win threat is Tiz Rye Time. He cleared his first allowance condition going 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland in October, and at one mile, his most recent start was too short. ◗ McPeek sent out a pair of 3-year-old Oaklawn winners last week who could make their next start in the Arkansas Derby. Mendelssohns March won a March 9 allowance race and Interlock Empire won a March 11 maiden route.