HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A mere three weeks between races has become something of a rarity for a Kentucky Derby prospect, but trainer Kenny McPeek intends to forge ahead with his revised plan anyway. It wasn’t long after Rattle N Roll finished sixth in his 3-year-old debut, the March 5 Fountain of Youth here at Gulfstream Park, that McPeek said the colt will wheel back in three weeks in the Louisiana Derby on March 26 at Fair Grounds. Rattle N Roll “ran back in 16 days when he won the Breeders’ Futurity,” said McPeek, referring to the colt’s signature victory that ended his 2-year-old campaign last October at Keeneland. “That’s one good reason it’s not that big a deal, really.” Rattle N Roll was not a serious factor when he and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. finished 7 1/4 lengths behind the winner, Simplification, in a roughly run renewal of the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth. McPeek had hinted beforehand that the son of Connect would need the race, his first in nearly five months. “He did need it,” McPeek said. “I’d say the main reason we’re sending him to New Orleans is because the race is 1 3/16 miles. He’ll like the extra ground.” :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more Before the Fountain of Youth, McPeek said he intended to choose between the Florida Derby on April 2 at Gulfstream and the Blue Grass Stakes on April 9 at Keeneland when keeping Rattle N Roll and Smile Happy separate; the latter is the other major Derby contender he trains for the Lucky Seven Stable of the Mackin family of Louisville. The itinerary changed, however, after the Fountain of Youth. Instead, Rattle N Roll will have a “strong breeze” Saturday at Gulfstream before shipping Monday or Tuesday to Fair Grounds, the trainer said. Hernandez has the mount back. “The timing of the Fountain of Youth was right to get him back in the game,” McPeek said. “I’m not sure the way the Gulfstream track plays that it suits his style. He did come out of it good. “He’s capable of running really well in the Louisiana Derby,” a 100-40-20-10 points qualifier for the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs. With only 10 points currently to his credit, Rattle N Roll “needs more to get in the Derby. I guess if he doesn’t earn enough, we could always come back in the Lexington,” a 20-8-4-2 qualifier on April 16 at Keeneland. Meanwhile, Smile Happy, who goes next in either the Florida Derby or Blue Grass (both with 100 points to the winner), closed Sunday as the 6-1 favorite among the 23 individually listed interests in Pool 4 of the Derby Future Wager offered by Churchill. Rattle N Roll closed at 31-1. McPeek also reconfirmed the Jeff Ruby Steaks (100-40-20-10) on April 2 on the Tapeta at Turfway Park as the next start for his third Derby hopeful, Tiz the Bomb, a last-out winner of the Battaglia on March 12 at Turfway. Another McPeek colt, Dash Attack, will go in the Lexington after finishing seventh in the Rebel on Feb. 26 at Oaklawn last out. In non-Derby news from McPeek, the standout mare Envoutante exited a distant fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile earlier this month at Santa Anita with a case of “the thumps,” an irregular breathing rhythm sometimes attributed to an electrolyte imbalance. “She’s fine now,” he said. “We’ll ease her back into training real soon at Keeneland,” with the Grade 1 La Troienne on May 6 at Churchill a possible target.