The Truth Or Else adds blinkers for Wednesday breeze

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Grade 1-placed 3-year-old The Truth Or Else breezed five furlongs in company in 1:00.40 on Wednesday at Oaklawn. He worked in blinkers with the intent of adding them for the Arkansas Derby, said trainer Ken McPeek. Jockey Calvin Borel was aboard for the move, which came first after the renovation break.

The Truth Or Else was the runner-up in the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn in February, and in his last start, he was fourth to American Pharoah in the local Rebel on March 14.

“We need to get him a little more focused,” McPeek said of the equipment change. “He showed speed earlier in his 2-year-old career. We need to try something different.”

Pangburn, another quality 3-year-old for the McPeek barn, will add blinkers for her next start, the trainer said. She had been debated for either the Ashland at Keeneland or the Fantasy at Oaklawn and now is confirmed for the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy on April 4, said McPeek.

Among older horses in the McPeek barn, the trainer said Flashy American could make her next start in either the Sixty Sails at Hawthorne, a race she won last year, or the Doubledogdare at Keeneland.

Golden Ticket, the third-place finisher in the recent Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn, is a candidate for either the Ben Ali at Keeneland or the Alysheba at Churchill Downs, according to McPeek.