Preakness 2022: Creative Minister will supplement; Smile Happy will not run
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Kenny McPeek confirmed Tuesday that Creative Minister will be supplemented to the Preakness for a $150,000 fee but that Smile Happy will not run in the May 21 classic at Pimlico and Rattle N Roll is only a possible starter.
Creative Minister, a sharp allowance winner on the Kentucky Derby card last Saturday at Churchill Downs, will be ridden in the $1.5 million Preakness by Brian Hernandez Jr., McPeek said. Owned by Fern Circle Stable and Back Racing, the gray Creative Cause colt earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in his Saturday triumph.
Speaking from Keeneland, McPeek said Smile Happy is being sent to Dr. Larry Bramlage at the Rood and Riddle equine clinic “to get a good going-over” and that Rattle N Roll would run “only if he does well in his training this week.” A breeze this coming weekend at Churchill for Rattle N Roll will help determine his status, McPeek said.
Smile Happy, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club last fall and the runner-up in the Blue Grass Stakes, was eighth in the Derby. Rattle N Roll, unplaced in all three starts this year, did not make the Derby as an also-eligible. Both colts are owned by Lucky Seven Stable.
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Meanwhile, Pimlico racing officials in Baltimore are maintaining a working list of 12 for the 147th Preakness, led by the 80-1 winner of the Derby, Rich Strike. However, several of those 3-year-olds have yet to be fully committed by their connections, including Rattle N Roll and the Chad Brown-trained Zandon (third in the Derby), their race status depending on how they fare when returning to training this week.
The only other likely returnees from the Derby are Epicenter, second by three-quarters of a length as the 4-1 favorite, and fourth-place finisher Simplification, who will have John Velazquez as his new rider.
Along with the McPeek pair, six other so-called “new shooters” are on the running list of prospects, led by Early Voting, the Wood Memorial runner-up who was purposely withheld by Brown from the Derby to await the 1 3/16-mile Preakness. Secret Oath, winner of the Kentucky Oaks for D. Wayne Lukas, also is listed, along with a second Lukas trainee, Ethereal Road, whose last-minute scratch from the Derby allowed Rich Strike to make the race. The others are Un Ojo, Skippylongstocking, and Shake Em Loose.
Shake Em Loose, winner of the Private Terms on March 19 and third in the Tesio on April 16, both at Laurel Park, was scheduled to breeze Tuesday on dirt and will work again Sunday on turf, according to trainer Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon.
Meanwhile, from his Mercury training center on the outskirts of Lexington, Derby-winning trainer Eric Reed said Rich Strike returned to light training Tuesday morning, less than 72 hours after stunning the world in the Run for the Roses.
“So far, so good,” Reed said. “Can you still believe this?”
Reed intends to ship Rich Strike to Maryland early next week. It will be the 57-year-old trainer’s first visit to Pimlico.
Entries for the Preakness will be drawn Monday.
– additional reporting by David Grening
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147th Preakness, Grade 1, $1.5 million, 1 3/16 miles, May 21 |
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| Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Last Race |
| Creative Minister | Kenny McPeek | Brian Hernandez, Jr. | CD alw, 1st |
| Early Voting | Chad Brown | Jose Ortiz | Wood Memorial, 2nd |
| Epicenter | Steve Asmussen | Joel Rosario | Ky Derby, 2nd |
| Rattle N Roll | Kenny McPeek | Corey Lanerie | Blue Grass, 6th |
| Rich Strike | Eric Reed | Sonny Leon | Ky Derby, 1st |
| Secret Oath | D. Wayne Lukas | Luis Saez | Ky Oaks, 1st |
| Shake Em Loose | Rodolfo Sanchez-Salomon | Charlie Marquez | Tesio, 3rd |
| Simplification | Antonio Sano | John Velazquez | Ky Derby, 4th |
| Skippylongstocking | Saffie Joseph, Jr. | Junior Alvarado | Wood Memorial, 3rd |
| Un Ojo | Ricky Courville | Ramon Vazquez | Ark Derby, 8th |
| Zandon | Chad Brown | Flavien Prat | Ky Derby, 3rd |