ARCADIA, Calif. — Fresh off winning the Keeneland fall training title, Ken McPeek has pulled into Santa Anita with a cavalry of juveniles for the Breeders’ Cup, ready to fire shots that could be heard round the world.
Few outfits are fielding stronger Cup hands than McPeek. Remember Kenny in New York? He’s the guy who blew the hinges off the 2002 Belmont Stakes with a 70-1 bomb named Sarava, the longest shot ever to win the Belmont.
At this Cup, you’ll be lucky to get 7-1 on any of the five two-year-olds he is saddling. That’s the power hand he is sitting on.
Over breakfast yesterday at Clockers’ Corner, bathed in glorious sunshine, McPeek talked about his prospects.
He has House of Grace, likely favorite in the Juvenile Fillies Turf on Friday. She won her maiden first out by five lengths on grass at Saratoga, then won a stake on Keeneland’s synthetic track making her 2-for-2.
“She’s very professional and she’s doing so well here,” McPeek said.
He has Beautician and Connie and Michael in the Juvenile Fillies. “Beautician is the more experienced (with four races, three of them graded), but Connie might be anything,” he said.
Connie and Michael has had only one start, a 7f maiden at Keeneland, but she won it by nearly eight lengths. “She has trained like a top horse right from the beginning,” he said. “She is really, really talented. Between her and Beautician, we have a big shot to win this race.”
McPeek will send Bridgetown in the Juvenile Turf after winning the Grade 3 Summer Stakes on grass at Woodbine. “He’s a very fast horse but he has to learn to rate,” McPeek said. “If he rates, he’s got a shot. If he doesn’t, he’s going to be struggling.”
Finally, he’ll go with Noble’s Promise in the Juvenile. Last out, this colt won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. McPeek confessed, “We’ve struggled a bit with Noble’s Promise here because he got an infection in his leg. But we got it settled down and we breezed him a couple of days ago (5f in 59.1) and I think we’ve got everything right now.”
McPeek is an amazing young man of 47. He earned a business degree at the University of Kentucky, but the morning after his last class he went to work as a hotwalker for trainer Shug McGaughey at Keeneland.
He has been in the horse business ever since, but he is renowned for his uncanny skill at spotting young horses with potential. Just look at some of the numbers: He bought Curlin as a yearling for $57,000, Tejano Run, second in the Kentucky Derby and a $1.1 million bankroller, for $20,000.
He bought Repent for $230,000, Take Charge Lady for $175,000, Dream Empress for $60,000, all huge track and stud moneymakers. Now he’s on the verge of another blockbuster: He bought Noble’s Promise, the big threat in the $2 million Cup Juvenile, for a client for $10,000. He has already earned nearly $400,000.
“I like to spot diamonds in the rough,” McPeek said yesterday
Back in 2005, McPeek, stressed out, took a year’s sabbatical from the game.
“I had a lot going on,” he recalled. “My mom was sick. The doctors told me she would not last longer than six months to a year. I was able to spend a lot of time with her before she died. And I had to sort some things out in my own life.”
During the sabbatical, McPeek bought Curlin and Einstein as yearlings. He recalled, “My father taught me how to read a pedigree before I was 12. In college, I discovered two libraries that had every copy of the Blood-Horse and Thoroughbred Record ever printed. By the time I graduated, I had read them all, every single one of them.”
Eventually, McPeek returned, restructured his program and bought his own farm, where he breaks and trains young horses. Now he’s off and humming.
I said to Kenny, “This might be your week.” He corrected me, “No, it’s not my week. It’s my life.”