Smile Happy has owners beaming after surging in Kentucky Jockey Club

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Smile Happy made his connections do that – and much more.

A convincing victory Saturday in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes had the Mackin family cheering their lungs out as the Runhappy colt drew clear in the final furlong of the 1 1/16-mile race at Churchill Downs. It was an understandable outpouring of joy given the colt was stamping himself as an elite performer in the 2-year-old division and a major contender for the 148th Kentucky Derby next May.

“This is a really good horse,” trainer Ken McPeek said with eyebrows raised after Smile Happy prevailed by 3 1/4 lengths over favored Classic Causeway in the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, the highlight of a busy Saturday card exclusively for 2-year-olds.

Ridden by Corey Lanerie, Smile Happy raced in midpack through the opening stages of the 95th KJC before edging closer as the field passed the half-mile pole. Staying clear of traffic when several paths wide, the dark bay colt continued to gain, and by the eighth pole he had taken over for Classic Causeway, who had put away front-running Howling Time but suddenly found himself in deep water.

:: Join DRF Bets and play the races with a $250 First Deposit Bonus. Click to learn more.

Smile Happy widened to the wire, finishing in 1:43.94 over a fast track, keeping him unbeaten in two starts while validating a flashy debut victory last month at Keeneland. He paid $11.60 as third choice in a field of 11 colts and earned 10 qualifying points toward the 2022 Derby.

“It was really never in doubt,” Lanerie said. “Had his ears up, traveling easy.”

Classic Causeway, the 7-5 favorite under Joel Rosario, was another 2 3/4 lengths before White Abarrio, with Ben Diesel another half-length back in fourth.

Brian Hernandez Jr. rode Smile Happy in his 5 1/2-length maiden win, but Lanerie got the mount for the KJC because Hernandez chose to ride another McPeek entry, Tiz the Bomb, the runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf earlier this month. Alas, Tiz the Bomb was scratched Saturday afternoon as the lukewarm program favorite because of an infection in his left foreleg, said McPeek, adding the condition should have no long-term effect.

Lanerie said he had been aboard Smile Happy for a recent morning workout, “and he worked really good. I thought he was a serious horse, and he proved that today.”

It was a big day for Lanerie, a 19-time leading rider here, as he won two earlier maiden races on the card. Both were on first-time-starting longshots trained by McPeek: Park On the Nile ($44.80) and Cocktail Moments ($54). In all, McPeek had four wins on the card, with an allowance score by Bhoma ($6.60) the other.

The Mackin family, lifelong Louisville residents who race as Lucky Seven Stable, has owned and bred Thoroughbreds for more than 20 years, but only in recent times have they substantially increased their involvement, primarily through yearling purchases. Smile Happy, bred in Kentucky, was bought for $185,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sales. There are five adult Mackin children – Mike, Jeff, Kim, Jay, and Craig – whose late parents, Leo and Ginny, got them involved in the sport while also running several highly successful business enterprises.

The Mackins also own Rattle N Roll, winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland last month, and other stakes-caliber young horses. McPeek said both Smile Happy and Rattle N Roll will be among the horses he sends to Florida ahead of 3-year-old campaigns geared toward making the Derby.

“We’ll keep them separated in their races, at least for a while,” McPeek said. “A high-level problem.”

With much of an ontrack Saturday crowd having already departed ahead of kickoff for the Kentucky-Louisville night football game at nearby Cardinal Stadium, Howling Time set the pace under the Churchill lights as the 2-1 second choice, going in splits of 23.95, 48.94, and 1:13.25 before Classic Causeway got serious as they approached the quarter-pole. After they all wheeled for home, though, Smile Happy had the most momentum, and he sparked a raucous celebration among the Mackins and their extended family and friends with his ferocious kick.

The $2 exacta (8-1) paid $43, the $1 trifecta (8-1-10) returned $127.10, and the 10-cent superfecta (8-1-10-12) was worth $92.14.

The KJC anchored a “Stars of Tomorrow” card that also included its filly counterpart, the Grade 2 Golden Rod, won some 30 minutes earlier by Dream Lith ($20.20).

Tejano Twist wins Lively Shively

In the first of four Saturday stakes, Tejano Twist wore down a stubborn Barber Road in the final 100 yards of the $200,000 Lively Shively for his first stakes victory.

Rallying from off the pace by Joe Rocco Jr., Tejano Twist prevailed by a half-length when finishing 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.82. The Practical Joke gelding returned $4.40 as the favorite.

“I had enough horse underneath me that all I had to do was pull the trigger,” Rocco said. “He’s a fun horse to ride.”

Tejano Twist, a Tom Durant homebred trained by Bret Calhoun, now has three wins and three seconds from eight starts. Two prior stakes attempts both resulted in second-place finishes.

“He’s really caught on,” said Dennis “Peaches” Geier, the longtime Calhoun assistant.

Barber Road, a 9-1 shot under Tyler Gaffalione, forced all the pace when battling the winner to the wire. Cool Papa G and Chattalot, both trained by Steve Asmussen, were third and fourth in the field of six.

The Lively Shively and its filly counterpart, the Fern Creek, were inaugurated partly to replace traditional turf fixtures such as the Mrs. Revere and River City while the Churchill grass course was being readied for next spring.

*** Closing day at the 21-day fall meet is Sunday, with live action on the Kentucky circuit moving Thursday evening to Turfway Park for four months of winter racing over Tapeta.