Barn Tour: McPeek updates on Derby contenders, 18 others

Kenny McPeek finds himself in a familiar place heading into the spring. He’s coming off a year when his earnings topped his previous all-time high, and he’s got a healthy handful of horses on the Kentucky Derby and Oaks trails.

With earnings of $10.8 million last year, he broke the $10 million mark for the first time. The year before was the first time he topped $9 million, and the year before that was his first with more than $7 million. His string of 90-something horses includes 28 who are stakes winners or stakes placed.

“We've got a really good team of people,” McPeek told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday from New Orleans, where he has five horses entered in graded stakes this weekend at Fair Grounds. “Great client base and nice horses.”

After answering questions about 16 of his horses, McPeek volunteered updates on others in his stable for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

On the Derby trail

Mystik Dan. The Goldencents colt picked up 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points with his eight-length win in the Southwest (G3), giving him 21 total. “Fantastic last race. The little horse has figured out how to go two turns, which is vital at this stage. When he broke his maiden, we knew that he was an extremely fast horse. But then he needed to learn to go two turns, and he seems to have learned his lesson. We made a conscious decision to skip the Rebel. Hard to pass it up, but our ultimate goal is the Arkansas Derby (G1) and the Kentucky Derby. So we're going to sit on him till then. I skipped the breeze this weekend with him because the track was horrendous. And we're focused in on next week. He's going to probably work Friday.”

Northern Flame. The Flameaway colt has 3 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity and a fifth-place finish in the Street Sense (G3). Coming off an optional-claiming allowance win at Oaklawn, he’s entered in Saturday’s Rebel (G2), with 50 Derby points available for the winner. “Nice, solid horse,” McPeek said. “He has always pretty much done everything right. I was glad to see his last win, which we hope moves him forward a little bit. He's a good colt. I think maybe his best distance might be a flat mile, but we'll get through that and learn a little bit more about him this weekend. He certainly deserves a shot at this.”

Common Defense. The son of Karakontie broke his maiden on his second try in January and then was fifth in the Southwest, earning 2 Kentucky Derby points. He also is entered in the Rebel. “I'm not sure if he liked the mud last time. But I'm hoping for a dry race track this weekend. I started to take him to the (John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway) because I do think that his future might ultimately be on the turf and actually migrated him to the Fair Grounds thinking that I was going to take him to Turfway. But he worked so good this week that I went ahead and put him in back at Oaklawn. So he's going to migrate back up there this week.”

Lat Long. The son of Liam’s Map has 6 Derby points thanks to his third-place finish last out in the Lecomte (G3). He broke his maiden in December in his fifth start and has never finished worse than third. He’s “being pointed towards the Blue Grass. He's a nice horse, but he tailed together a bunch of races in a row. And we felt that a little time in between to put a little more weight on, for him to get a little bigger and stronger, would help him in the long run. He'll be nominated to the Louisiana Derby, the Arkansas Derby and the Blue Grass. But right now, talking to the owner, Scott Leeds, we're probably focused in on the Blue Grass. But that's not set, could change to the Lexington (G3) too.”

Real Men Violin. The Mendelssohn colt earned 5 Derby points with his runner-up effort in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), then he was off until Saturday’s Risen Star (G2), where he finished eighth. “We gave him a break after we tailed some races together. And I thought he'd run a little bit better as well. (We’ll) probably nominate him to all the likely suspects. We'll probably nominate him to the Arkansas Derby, Louisiana Derby (G2), Blue Grass (G1), and we will choose one of those to give him another try. … I do think his speed figures need to be a little bit better, and he needs to find certainly a better performance than he gave us last time.”

On the Oaks trail

Band of Gold. The Preservationist filly broke her maiden in her November debut, then was fifth in an Oaklawn stakes before winning the Martha Washington last out. She has 21 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points and could earn as many as 50 more in Saturday’s Honeybee (G3). “Real proud of her last win. Just a filly that really shows a lot of class. Every time we've asked her to go to another level, she seems to have handled it. That last race was super, and hopefully she continues on.”

V V’s Dream. The Mitole filly has picked up 23 Oaks points through top-five finishes in four points preps, including a win in the Pocahontas (G3) in September. On Saturday, she was fifth in the Rachel Alexandra (G2). “I was disappointed in her race this weekend. This is the second time we've run her in the slop, and she hasn't done anything. And we're probably going to nominate her to all the likely suspects, the Fantasy (G3), the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and also the Ashland (G1). If it rains or if it's an off track, she won't run. She'll wait for the next one.”

Shimmering Allure. The daughter of Enticed earned 13 Oaks points with second- through fourth-place finishes in points preps, most recently finishing fourth in the Busanda at Aqueduct last month. “I brought her down to New Orleans, and she is pointed towards the Ashland.”

Thorpedo Anna. The Fast Anna filly won her two starts and was second in the Golden Rod (G2), earning 5 points. She hasn’t raced since and returned to training Feb. 10. “Lovely filly. She had a little mishap in the stall, where she bruised her hip. We actually had to send her to Kentucky from Oaklawn to have Dr. (Larry) Bramlage check her. But she just had a deep bruise in her hip. We don't know if she did it on the stall door or if she did it in the stall. We're not sure how it happened. But she's back to 100 percent. She had one work already. Same thing, the track was horrendously sloppy this past weekend. I decided not to breeze, and then she's supposed to breeze back Friday or Saturday at the Fair Grounds. And right now I don't think I can make the Fair Grounds Oaks, but I probably can make the Fantasy or the Ashland without much trouble.”

Ice Cold. The Mitole filly wasn’t on the Oaks trail, but the Indiana-bred won two stakes at 2 before being retired at 3. “She won the Year's End, and unfortunately she, in a gallop one morning, cracked her sesamoid, a small piece off the back of her sesamoid. So she was forced to be retired.”

Older horses

Frosted Departure. The 4-year-old son of Frosted broke a nine-race losing streak with an optional-claiming allowance win at Oaklawn in December then was fourth in an optional claimer last out in January. He’s entered in Saturday’s Razorback (G3) at Oaklawn. “His race two races back was fantastic, and he ran his best figure of his life. But then the last time he ran, the pace was a little quicker and he didn't he didn't have that finish. So he seems to be a horse that things kind of have to go his way. And if they do, he's really good. And if they don't, then, maybe he's mid-pack. But this race doesn't look that deep. And he's out of conditions, so you don't have a lot of choices with him.”

Escapologist. The 4-year-old Good Magic colt returns to graded-stakes company in the Razorback after finishing in the money in his last five starts, including two wins. “He's been running really well and he's been doing really well, and I know this is ambitious with him. But we're hoping the race sets up for him and that he comes running late. He might even want to go further than this. I think we're on both ends, we're the engine and the caboose. Frosted Departure is probably going to show some speed and Escapologist is probably going to come running.”

Mendelssohn’s March. After winning his first two career starts last year, the now 4-year-old son of Mendelssohn was 0-for-6 in stakes company and last raced in September. He returned to training this month. “Really nice horse. Going to probably show up at Keeneland in a two-other-than allowance race this spring. … Was a good solid 3-year-old but just needs to run through some conditions before we get back to stakes.”

Denington. The 4-year-old Gun Runner colt was on the Derby trail last year and finished the year with a record of 14: 2-1-3. He most recently was fifth in the Tinsel Stakes at Oaklawn on Dec. 16. “Denington I gave a small break after his last race. He's going to probably show up in an allowance or stake race at Keeneland this spring.”

Freydis the Red. The 4-year-old daughter of Saxon Warrior was 2-for-6 last year and hasn’t raced since finishing ninth in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) in October. She returned to training this month. “Real pleased with her. We gave her a little break after her fall campaign. She didn't run well in the Grade 1 at Keeneland. We're going to probably bring her back on the 23rd of March in a listed stake at the Fair Grounds. And if she doesn't start there, then she'll probably come to Keeneland."

Smile Happy. After winning last year’s Alysheba (G3), in May, the 5-year-old son of Runhappy was fifth in the Stephen Foster (G1) in July and didn’t race for the rest of the year. He returned in January with a sixth-place finish in the Louisiana (G3), and was fifth on Saturday in the Mineshaft (G3). “He's just been a really tricky horse the last seven or eight months. After his Alysheba win, he was refusing to train, he was balking. We've done a lot of vet exams on him, and he's sound. But mentally, he's hit and miss. He likes to dictate his own training schedule. And when he decides he's not going to go, he's not going to go, and you can't force that. And then we have days that he trains and he wants to run off, and then when you work him against company he absolutely destroys the company. We felt like his first race this season was just lack of fitness because it was hard to find a workmate for him. And then his race the other day, he just didn't seem to make much effort. And he was better in the paddock. He was excellent in the paddock, and he was good going to the gate. And he just has been a horse that's a bit of a head scratcher. We've played about every card, and he is, as of today, being gelded. We probably should have done that sooner because of his personality. His stallion prospects are minimal. And unless he ran through a series of Grade 1s, we didn't see him being a stallion prospect, and there wasn't a market for him really. So his next start will be as a first-time gelding.” That probably will be at Keeneland, McPeek said, either in an allowance race or the Ben Ali (G3).

Classic Causeway. The 5-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway tried turf after his 2022 Kentucky Derby trail run, and McPeek sent him to England for three races last summer, where he went 0-for-3. He hasn’t raced since August. “Classic Causeway's back in full training. He had his first breeze at Fair Grounds last week, and he's doing really well. We're high-level optimistic at getting him back on form. I think in hindsight, we experimented by taking him to Europe and seeing how he would handle things over there. But that didn't suit him. And I suspect he'll show up in an allowance or listed stake this spring, probably on the dirt.”

Rattle N Roll. Winner of three graded stakes last year, the now 5-year-old son of Connect hasn’t raced or trained since finishing fourth in the Lukas Classic (G2) in September. “Rattle N Roll had distal bone bruising, coming through the fall. And we had to stop on him for that. And then we actually brought him back into training, and I still wasn't happy about the way he was doing So he got a little more time. But then he starts back in training March 1.”

Butterbean. The 5-year-old daughter of Klimt finished the year with a black-type stakes win at Oaklawn but is 0-for-2 since, finishing fourth last out in the Bayakoa (G3). “Butterbean is being bred to Good Magic. And there's a chance we could bring her back for a summer campaign. But we're going to decide probably mid-March, first of April.”

Lovely Princess. The 5-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy had a record of 7: 2-3-1 last year and was third in the Mare G. Krantz Memorial at Oaklawn in January. “She's probably going to be pointed towards one of the mile-and-a-half turf stakes at Keeneland.”

Dash Attack. The 5-year-old son of Munnings was 2-for-10 last year and hasn’t raced yet this year. McPeek said he’s pointed to the Challenger (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on March 9.

Creative Minister. The 5-year-old son of Creative Cause, who was third in the 2022 Preakness, has been gelded and is “getting a 90-day break, and we're going to point him towards a summer campaign. He's a nice horse, but he hasn't found another level.”

Tiz the Bomb. The 5-year-old son of Hit it a Bomb is looking for his first win since the 2022 Jeff Ruby (G3). “Tiz the Bomb's kind of been disappointing as an older horse, but he's going to be coming back in the spring too as a gelding also.”