Sun Thunder among McPeek trio pointing for stakes on Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds

Sun Thunder, fourth behind leading 3-year-old Arabian Knight facing other winners for the first time in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, will be one of at least three horses that trainer Ken McPeek intends to run on the Feb. 18 card at Fair Grounds.

Sun Thunder starts in the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star, contested over a 1 1/8-mile trip McPeek believes will suit him. A distant third in a highly rated seven-furlong maiden race making his career debut at Churchill Downs, Sun Thunder won a one-mile Oaklawn maiden while overcoming a tough trip before coming back in the 1 1/16-mile Southwest.

“We want to see if he wants a little more distance,” McPeek said.

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Sun Thunder is by Into Mischief out of Greenfield D’Oro, by Medaglia d’Oro. Racing over a sloppy strip in the Southwest, Sun Thunder made progress around the far turn and loomed at the quarter pole before proving no match for Arabian Knight, who won by 5 1/2 lengths.

The Feb. 18 card at Fair Grounds also will mark the 4-year-old debut of Tiz the Bomb, last seen finishing fourth Aug. 5 in the Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga. Second in the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Tiz the Bomb won the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park last spring and was ninth in the Kentucky Derby before being moved back to turf over the summer. McPeek said if Tiz the Bomb performs well in the Fair Grounds Stakes on Feb. 18, he’ll be considered for a start in the Dubai Turf on March 26.

McPeek also plans to run King Fury, a horse with modest Oaklawn form, in the Mineshaft Stakes.

McPeek has had good recent Fair Grounds success with 3-year-old grass route horses. The colt Mendelssohn’s March debuted with a Feb. 2 maiden win via disqualification and is headed either to the John Battaglia Memorial on March 4 at Turfway Park or the Black Gold the same day at Fair Grounds. The filly Beautifulnavigator was a debut maiden winner Feb. 5 at Fair Grounds, and the colt He’s Got Swagger finished second in a Feb. 3 maiden route. Coming from last of eight at the quarter pole, He’s Got Swagger’s final 2 ½-furlong time was fastest in the field by more than 1.10 seconds, and he just missed catching the Brad Cox-trained first-time Wonderful Justice.

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