Smile Happy Gets Checked Out in Lexington

Smile Happy , a player on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year, has been given—mostly—a clean bill of health.

Trainer Kenny McPeek said Aug. 3 that the son of Runhappy   traveled to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington where he got a complete physical from Dr. Larry Bramlage, an internationally recognized equine orthopedic surgeon.

"He gave him a good going over," McPeek said. "He said to give him 30 more days and then reevaluate. It's nothing major (just) little stuff. He is a little tender here and there and has a pulled muscle in a quad. He is fine."

McPeek said he wanted to have the colt, owned by Lucky Seven Stable, looked at after he didn't seem right while training at Saratoga. Smile Happy hasn't raced since his eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on May 7.

Smile Happy will spend the next month at Magdalena Farm in Lexington, a division of McPeek Racing.

"We'll give him some round pen time," McPeek said. "We'll check on him in September and go from there."

Before the Derby, Smile Happy was second in both the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland and the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.