Ky Racing Spotlight: McPeek, Talamo – Scotty D!
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022) — Trainer Kenny McPeek, jockey Joe Talamo and Bellarmine University men’s basketball coach Scotty Davenport are this week’s featured guests on Kentucky Racing Spotlight presented by the Kentucky HBPA.
The radio program airs 6-7 p.m. ET on Fridays over Louisville’s ESPN 680 AM/105.7 FM through March 4.
McPeek will discuss his Kentucky Derby prospects, including the exciting 2-for-2 Smile Happy, who in his second start captured Churchill Downs’ Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 27. Classic Causeway, the runner-up that day, captured last Saturday’s Grade 3 Sam Davis in Tampa and White Abarrio won Gulfstream Park’s Grade 3 Holy Bull after finishing third in the KJC. Smile Happy makes his 3-year-old debut in a very tough edition of the Fair Grounds’ Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Saturday.
McPeek’s Derby arsenal also includes Rattle N Roll, who in his last start captured Keeneland’s Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (a race in which Classic Causeway finished third) off of a maiden victory. Rattle N Roll, who like Smile Happy is owned by the Lucky 7 Stable headed by Louisvillian Mike Mackin, is expected to make his next start in Gulfstream Park’s Fountain of Youth (G2) or the Tampa Bay Derby (G2). Tiz the Bomb, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf after winning turf stakes at Kentucky Downs and Keeneland, finished seventh in Gulfstream Park’s Holy Bull. He now will be pointed for Turfway Park’s signature $600,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) and could run before that in Turfway’s $125,000 John Battaglia.
Smarty Jones winner Dash Attack is taking the Arkansas route to the Derby, with McPeek eyeing the $1 million Rebel Stakes after a fifth in the Southwest.
Talamo is currently tied for second with Rafael Bejarano in the Turfway Park riding standings behind Geraldo Corrales. It is Talamo’s first winter riding at Turfway, whose enhanced purses made it a viable option for the jockey to stay in Kentucky with his family. Talamo has won 2,210 races and more than $120 million in purses in a career that started in 2006. He was voted the Eclipse Award as North America’s 2007 outstanding apprentice jockey during a season that saw Talamo relocate from his native Louisiana to Southern California. With California racing struggling, Talamo moved his family to Louisville in early 2020 to ride in Kentucky full-time.
Davenport, an avid racing fan who grew up near Churchill Downs, is one of the most revered sports personalities in Louisville and an unabashed cheerleader for his native city. Known simply as “Scotty,” Davenport coached Ballard High School to the 1988 boys’ basketball state championship, served as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville to Hall of Famers Denny Crum and Rick Pitino and guided Bellarmine to the 2011 NCAA Division II national title and three other final fours. Under Davenport’s leadership, Bellarmine made a highly successful transition to NCAA Division I for the 2020-21 season.
Kentucky Racing Spotlight co-hosts Jennie Rees and Joe Clabes will ask Davenport how horse racing can create crossover fandom – how to get basketball and other sports fans to see what he sees in racing — and what lessons can be drawn from how he took a Division 2 basketball program in a Division 1-focused city to grow Bellarmine’s brand.
Kentucky Racing Spotlight airs on ESPN 680-AM/105.7 FM, the region’s sports-talk leader. The program also will be streamed live at espnlouisville.com, on the ESPN 680 app and the TuneIn and iHeart apps. The replay will be available on espnlouisville.com under the podcasts tab. All shows also are archived at davisinnovation.com/kyracing.
In addition to the Kentucky HBPA, Kentucky Racing Spotlight is sponsored by Davis Innovation marketing, the Louisville Thoroughbred Society, NKYTribune.com and Equine Equipment manufacturers discounts.
Check out Kentucky Racing Spotlight’s Facebook page and @KyRacingSptlght on Twitter.
