Lucky Seven Stable’s Happy smile and Phoenix Thoroughbred’s Tiz the Bomb strong in the company at Gulfstream Park The upcoming January 15th begins on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.
While trainer Kenny McPeek has the option of running both during the February 5 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream, he told BloodHorse via text message that he likes Smile Happy, the undefeated winner of Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2), is to send him to Fair Grounds & Slots for the Easter Star Shares on February 19 presented by Lamarque Ford (G2). Tiz the Bomb, an on-field ranked bet winner who ended up second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), is projected for Holy Bull.
On Saturday, the pair did a half-mile workout with: 46.52, the third fastest of 84 recorded distance workouts on the Gulfstream main track.
Smile Happy and Tiz The Bomb go 1/2 @Dong sea currents swinging the bay pic.twitter.com/2BuweWnAck
– Kenny McPeek (@KennyMcPeek) January 15, 2022
“It was a nice maintenance job. They went a little faster than I would have liked. I’ve instructed them to do it in about: 48,” said coach Kenny McPeek. “But it’s okay. They’re doing well.”
The breeze is the third in a series of Gulfstream workouts for two sophomores since the start of the year.
“You need a fast horse to go with a fast horse,” says McPeek. “You can’t work a fast horse with a slow horse.”
Runhappy , won both of his career starts in an away style. He closed the door from afar back to break his maiden 5 1/2 length at 1 1/16 miles. October 29 at Keeneland, then regroup from the center of the pack to capture the Kentucky Jockey Club at the same distance 3 1/4 the length in Churchill Downs November 27
Tiz the Bomb broke her girlhood on a fast main track at Ellis . Park in a mile race originally planned for the inner court 14 1/4 length July 2. He then captured the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile Stakes on September 6 and the Castle & Key Bourbon Stakes (G2T) ) in Keeneland October 10. Son of Hit it a bomb ends his 2021 season with a late sublimation second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on 5 November at Del Mar.
Holy Bull ran at 1/16 mile and provided qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on a 10-4-2-1 scale. The 1 1/8 mile Easter Star has scores on a 50-20-10-5 scale.
McPeek’s Arkansas-based Derby prospect, Dash Attack, is pointed to next run in Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park Jan 29. It offers scores on the same 10-4-2-1 scale as Holy Bull.
