by Jeff Lowe

After taking a sabbatical from training for nearly a year in 2005 and ’06, trainer Ken McPeek figured he would need three years for his stable to completely bounce back.

McPeek may outdo himself in meeting that projection. He picked up his first Keeneland Race Course training title with 17 winners during the fall meet that ended October 31, and he has five two-year-olds lined up for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships next weekend.

McPeek has never won a Breeders’ Cup race, but four of his ten starters have finished second or third—Repent finished second in the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), Dream Empress finished second in the ’08 Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), She’s a Devil Due finished third in the ’00 Juvenile Fillies, and Tejano Run finished third in the 1994 Juvenile.

McPeek cleared a big hurdle on Sunday when Noble’s Promise breezed five furlongs in :59.20 at Santa Anita Park, which was his first workout since winning the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (G1) (video) on October 10. An ankle infection forced him to miss a scheduled workout last weekend.

“He didn’t miss any training, just a workout,” McPeek said. “I decided not to breeze him last weekend because it just wasn’t 100%. We brought five out here, so out of the five, you have to expect something to go wrong with one of them.

“We had to put him on some light antibiotics, and he had filling in it. It was one of those deals where it just needed to work itself out. My preference would have been to work him a half-mile last weekend and come back five [furlongs] this weekend, but today we just gave him a strong five-eighths. He galloped out strong. I think he went three-quarters in 1:13.”

Noble’s Promise was a $10,000 weanling purchase by Rory Callis, a bloodstock adviser who works with McPeek. Owned by Chasing Dreams Racing 2008, the Cuvee colt has ascended from a maiden win on the turf at Ellis Park on September 5 to take down the Fitz Dixon Jr. Memorial Juvenile Stakes on September 26 at Presque Isle Downs and the Breeders’ Futurity at 12.90-to-1 odds on October 10.

“This colt is what I call, ‘The little engine that could,’ ” McPeek said. “He’s very smart and confident. He really likes what he does. He’s not an obvious horse. He’s an overachiever. Harlan’s Holiday was a similar-bodied horse, but he was an overachiever. He wanted to be special. Sometimes that is more important than how they’re made physically, although he is well-made physically. He keeps jumping through hoops.”

The Breeders’ Cup also was the logical next step for Summer Stakes (Can-G3) winner Bridgetown (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf [G2]), JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes winner House of Grace (Juvenile Fillies Turf), and Grade 1-placed winner Beautician (Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies [G1]).

McPeek’s ambitious play is with Connie and Michael in the Juvenile Fillies, which will be 20 days after her debut win by 7 ¾ lengths on October 17 at Keeneland.

“It’s pretty ambitious, but she’s pretty fast,” McPeek said. “Before she ever ran, [exercise rider and former jockey Scott Miller] said she was the best filly he ever sat on in his life. She really could be [a superstar]. Beautician is a really good filly in her own right, so I feel like we have two live chances there.”

Bridgetown and House of Grace breezed together on Saturday at Oak Tree. They were both timed going five furlongs in 1:02.80. House of Grace scored on the Keeneland Polytrack surface in the off-the-turf Jessamine (video), but she will head back to grass in the Breeders’ Cup. She won her first start on August 19 on the turf at Saratoga.

“She’s kind of an under-the-radar filly,” McPeek said. “She never broke 1:03 in a workout in her life. When I put her on the turf, it was ‘See you later, bye.’ I think she’s a better grass filly. She and Bridgetown were two really good matches, and I think that brings them into the races really well. They went :35 and three the last three eighths. They’re both in good position.”

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer