Rattle N Roll may be leased out for Saudi Cup, Dubai World Cup

Kenny McPeek never has shied from the unorthodox. In fact, he often has sought it, from scouring South America for racing prospects, to sending one of them, Brazilian-bred Hard Buck, to England 20 years ago for a second-place finish in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

McPeek cemented a lofty position in racing history winning the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby on consecutive days this past May, but that hasn’t changed his approach.

His latest enterprise involves 5-year-old Rattle N Roll, winner of the Grade 2 Clark Stakes on Nov. 29 at Churchill Downs. McPeek said Thursday that an agreement was being finalized through which Rattle N Roll, owned by the Lucky Seven Stable of Ginny and Leo Mackin, would be leased to the Saudi Arabian businessman Sharaf Mohammed S. Al-Hariri for three races in the Middle East this winter and early spring.

Al-Hariri reached a similar agreement last year with the owners of Senor Buscador, who won the $20 million Saudi Cup and finished third in the $10 million Dubai World Cup with jockey Junior Alvarado wearing Al-Hariri’s silks. Al-Hariri reportedly received a minor share of Senor Buscador’s purse earnings before Senor Buscador upon his return to America resumed racing solely for owner Joe Peacock Jr.

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“It’s all finalized verbally. It’s still got to be in writing, and it’s going through legal right now,” McPeek said.

Under the agreement, Rattle N Roll, stabled at Fair Grounds, would depart for Saudi Arabia the second week in January and could start Jan. 25 at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup as a prep for the Saudi Cup on Feb. 22. Then, if all went according to plan, it would be on to the Dubai World Cup, scheduled next year for April 5. McPeek said that even if the lease agreement doesn’t come to fruition, the Mackins have interest in shipping Rattle N Roll for the Saudi Cup.

McPeek also floated the idea of taking Thorpedo Anna to Dubai for the World Cup, calling that race a possible early season target if Thorpedo Anna isn’t aimed at the $1.25 million Apple Blossom on April 12 at Oaklawn.

McPeek said Thorpedo Anna’s recent minor surgery to remove a portion of dead bone from her jaw went well, and that the filly, a candidate for 2024 Horse of the Year, traveled earlier this week from McPeek’s Magdalena Farm in Kentucky to his Silverleaf Hills Training Center south of Ocala, Fla. Thorpedo Anna will spend 10 days to two weeks in Florida before joining McPeek’s string at Fair Grounds.

Thorpedo Anna went 6-1-0 from seven 2024 starts, her lone loss coming by a neck to Fierceness in the Travers Stakes. McPeek said Thorpedo Anna has filled out considerably since winning the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 2.

“Imagine if she comes back bigger and stronger next year!” McPeek said.

Imagination – McPeek has plenty of that.

Serving Time, Ortiz team up

While the burgeoning Cherie DeVaux stable has horses across a vast array of categories, DeVaux’s operation this fall has been especially heavy on talented 2-year-old grass horses, and with limited turf opportunities available at the Churchill meeting in November, DeVaux has a host of juveniles for maiden and allowance races in New Orleans.

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Three of them – the exciting prospect Deep Manhattan, Tanti Auguri, and Serving Time – already have cleared the maiden ranks at the meet, and Serving Time runs back Sunday in a first-level turf-sprint allowance race also open to $100,000 claimers.

Serving Time is one of eight fillies entered and figures to be solidly favored under Jose Ortiz, the meet’s leading rider. Ortiz already has 28 winners at Fair Grounds, though his lead in the jockey standings was trimmed Thursday when Jareth Loveberry posted a riding triple, raising his meet total to 17.

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