Woodmans Luck still ‘ultra cool’ at age 9

Trainer Michelle Lovell was buying more than she expected when claiming Woodmans Luck for $16,000 out of a June 10 victory at Churchill Downs.

Lovell had been unaware that Woodmans Luck won the last race ever run at Hollywood Park on Dec. 22, 2013, until she recently watched the replay of him winning that emotional finale by a nose under Corey Nakatani.

“Gave me goose bumps,” said Lovell.

Woodmans Luck, a 9-year-old gelding, has 12 wins, 18 seconds, 8 thirds, and $482,995 in earnings in 70 starts for his nine previous trainers. Lovell said she has become enamored with the chestnut California-bred since bringing him into her Churchill barn. He’ll make his first start for Lovell on Friday in the second race at Ellis.

“He still looks the same” as when he won the Hollywood finale, said Lovell. “He’s an ultra-cool horse.”

McPeek 2-year-olds stay put

Following his sensational finish to the Churchill spring meet, trainer Kenny McPeek is standing pat with his decision to keep his newest 2-year-old stakes winners home for the summer.

McPeek will have about 20 horses at the Saratoga meet that starts July 21, but Ten City and Sunny Skies won’t be among those shippers. They were the respective winners of the Bashford Manor and Debutante, the six-furlong stakes that helped close the meet June 30.

“I’ve said all along that I need to get them both going longer,” said McPeek. “They’ve both got immense talent, and I think if you sprint young horses too many times, they get in a certain mind-set that doesn’t help them down the road.”

Both horses will train at Keeneland with assistants Mike Kleier and Alan Shell, with Sunny Skies actually spending most of her time at nearby Magdalena Farm. Ten City will be pointed for the Iroquois and Sunny Skies for the Pocahontas, both Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In races set for Sept. 16 at Churchill.