Howling Time Faces Graded Test in Kentucky Jockey Club

Albaugh Family Stables already have graded stakes-proven horses for next spring's major 3-year-old races in Juju's Map  and Giant Game , both of whom hit the board in separate races at the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar earlier this month.

And their bench may go even deeper. On Nov. 27 they run Howling Time , a stakes-winning colt unbeaten in two starts, in the 14-horse, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs. Win that 1 1/16-mile race—or even run well against a capacity field—and he can join Giant Game in the ranks of leading Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) prospects, just as Juju's Map is for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1).

"A good fall for us. Hopefully it can continue to get better for us and give us an exciting 3-year-old season," said Jason Loutsch, racing manager for the Iowa-based Albaugh Family Stables.

The Kentucky Jockey Club serves as a qualifying race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, providing points on a 10-4-2-1 scale toward next year's race. The race further provides a means to evaluate some of this region's best prospects toward next year's Triple Crown.

Besides Howling Time, leading Kentucky Jockey Club contenders include Tiz the Bomb , runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T); Classic Causeway , third as the favorite in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1); and Smile Happy , a debut winner around two turns at Keeneland Oct. 29.

Howling Time, trained by Dale Romans, won a sprint in his debut Sept. 25 at Churchill Downs followed by the Street Sense Stakes there when stretched out to 1 1/16 miles Oct. 31.  He is a son of Not This Time  , who finished second in the 2016 Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) for Albaugh Family Stables and Romans but never raced again after exiting that race with a soft-tissue injury. Not This Time stands at stud at Taylor Made Stallions for $45,000.

"Dale actually picked him out. So we give him a lot of credit on this one," he said about the $200,000 purchase from the Paramount Sales consignment at last year's September Yearling Sale at Keeneland. "Any time we see a Not This Time, we're looking at them, obviously because of our love for Not This Time and the success he's had on the stallion side."

Romans also runs Jim Bakke and Gerry Isbister's Red Knobs , third in the Street Sense. Romans has given the return riding assignment on Howling Time to Joe Talamo and the mount on Red Knobs to Ricardo Santana Jr.

Kenny McPeek also starts two in the Kentucky Jockey Club. They have contrasting experience but not talent. Phoenix Thoroughbred III's Tiz the Bomb is the most seasoned entrant in the Kentucky Jockey Club, going 3-1-0 in five starts with earnings of $617,841, while Lucky Seven Stable's Smile Happy won his lone race, earning $50,400.

Brian Hernandez Jr., aboard both throughout their racing careers, stays on Tiz the Bomb, and Corey Lanerie rides Smile Happy.

Before his rallying second-place finish to Modern Games  in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Tiz the Bomb (Hit It a Bomb  ) won two stakes on grass, the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile Stakes and the Castle & Key Bourbon Stakes (G2T) in Kentucky. He also won a maiden race taken off the grass and run on dirt at Ellis Park by more than 14 lengths.

"Tiz the Bomb has done everything right from the beginning," McPeek said. "I just want to get one more run into him on the dirt, especially at Churchill, before the end of the season. He's done well coming out of California and seems to be an easy horse to handle, and certainly a good spot for him."

Smile Happy (Runhappy  ) is a colt with a "ton of raw talent," the trainer added.

That was on display in his unveiling when he quickly overcame traffic early on the second turn, inhaling rivals in front of him on his way to a 5 1/2-length victory. Then, in preparation for the Kentucky Jockey Club, he worked five furlongs in 1:00 with Tiz the Bomb at Churchill Downs Nov. 20.

"They were a solid match. Smile Happy gives Tiz the Bomb all he can handle and vice versa," McPeek said. "The upside is really big on this horse."

Front-running Classic Causeway, who broke from post 13 in the Breeders' Futurity, drew the rail for the Kentucky Jockey Club. The Brian Lynch trainee, who won an earlier start at Saratoga Race Course, picks up Joel Rosario. Trainer Brian Lynch trains the Giant's Causeway  colt for Kentucky West Racing and Clarke Cooper.

Other threats in the Kentucky Jockey Club include Shortleaf Stable's Vivar , a winner of two straight, and White Abarrio , a Florida invader with a 2-for-2 record.

Entries: Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2)

Churchill Downs, Saturday, November 27, 2021, Race 11

• Grade II
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $400,000
• 2 yo
• 5:56 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Classic Causeway (KY)	Joel Rosario	122	Brian A. Lynch	7/2
2	2Guntown (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Steven M. Asmussen	15/1
3	3Rich Strike (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Eric R. Reed	50/1
4	4Texas Red Hot (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	122	Randy L. Morse	12/1
5	5Howling Time (KY)	Joseph Talamo	122	Dale L. Romans	7/2
6	6Tiz the Bomb (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	122	Kenneth G. McPeek	3/1
7	7Vivar (KY)	Florent Geroux	122	Brad H. Cox	12/1
8	8Smile Happy (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	122	Kenneth G. McPeek	12/1
9	9Red Knobs (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	122	Dale L. Romans	15/1
10	10White Abarrio (KY)	Edgard J. Zayas	122	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	8/1
11	11Ready Pursuit (KY)	Martin Garcia	122	Jerry Antonuik	50/1
12	12Ben Diesel (KY)	Jon Kenton Court	122	Dallas Stewart	15/1
13	13Mannix (IRE)	Edwin Gonzalez	122	Mark E. Casse	20/1
14	14Call Me Midnight (KY)	Chris Landeros	122	J. Keith Desormeaux	15/1