McLaughlin Returns to FL Fully Loaded
Courtesy of Gulfstream Park
Kiaran McLaughlin arrived at Gulfstream Park’s Championship Meet last year with an ace up his sleeve in the form of Cairo Prince (Pioneerof the Nile), but the conditioner could be holding a full house in his return this winter.
Among the horses the Lexington, Kentucky native may have in South Florida are a quartet of talented 2-year-olds led by Classy Class (Discreetly Mine), Frosted (Tapit) and Imperia (Medaglia d’Oro), each among the 23 single betting interests in pool one of the GI Kentucky Derby future wager, along with Mawthooq (Distorted Humor), a 10 1/2-length maiden winner at Aqueduct Nov. 26.
That doesn’t include Ocean Knight (Curlin), an impressive debut winner at Aqueduct Dec. 13; well-regarded Tapit colt Good Pick Nick or the unstarted Jess’s Dream (Curlin–Rachel Alexandra), a son of two Horse of the Year titlists whose unveiling is expected to come during the Championship Meet.
“We will have a few nice young horses,” said McLaughlin, who is stabled at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. “We have 50 stalls at Palm Meadows, and hopefully we have 50 nice horses that fit. We feel good about Florida. We’re happy to be there, happy to be at Palm Meadows and hopefully we have a good winter.”
Last year, McLaughlin brought GII Nashua S. winner Cairo Prince to Gulfstream off a runner-up finish in the GII Remsen S. at Aqueduct. Considered the leading Triple Crown contender, Cairo Prince was an impressive winner of the GII Holy Bull S. before being injured following a fourth place finish in the GI Florida Derby and subsequently retired.
McLaughlin was second in the Remsen again last month with Frosted, who came up a half-length short as the favorite after breaking from the outside post in a 13-horse field and was eight lengths clear of the third place finisher. Classy Class, owned by Cheyenne Stable, finished fourth after chasing the early pace.
Both Frosted, a son of Tapit, and Medaglia d’Oro-sired Imperia are owned by Godolphin Stable. Imperia made his first three starts on grass, winning the GIII Pilgrim S. at Belmont Park and finishing a troubled 10th in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf before rallying to be second, beaten a head in the GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. at Churchill Downs in his dirt debut.
“I said that maybe this was a good time to run him on the dirt and see if he would like it, rather than waiting until February to find out if he’s equally good on the dirt,” McLaughlin said. “Sometimes you start a horse on the turf because of the distance, and that’s what he wanted. We felt like we weren’t going to waste our time running short on the dirt, so we ran him long on the turf and he ran very well.”
Jess’s Dream, Ocean Knight and Good Pick Nick are all owned by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stable. By two-time Horse of the Year and Hall of Famer Curlin, Jess’s Dream is the first foal out of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. He is named for Banke’s late husband Jess Jackson, who campaigned both Curlin and Rachel Alexandra and envisioned their mating.
“He is working very well and should get started before the year’s end,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously, he is very well-bred. He’s been working weekly and doing very well. He’s really improving mentally and physically and we hope for big things from him. He’s a talented colt. It’s nice to have him in the barn.”
Other notable McLaughlin horses are Florida-bred allowance winner Transparent (Bernardini), who is targeting the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Classic Jan. 17; Mutin (Fr) (Kentucky Dynamite), a 4-year-old colt bred in France who won a Nov. 9 turf allowance at Aqueduct in his North American debut and is being pointed to the $200,000 GII Fort Lauderdale S. Jan. 10; 2-year-old filly Cavorting (Bernardini), winner of the GII Adirondack S. this summer; graded stakes-placed 3-year-old fillies Penwith (Bernardini)and Divided Attention (A.P. Indy) and juvenile filly Gap Year (Bernardini).
“We have some nice horses,” McLaughlin said, “possibly for the big races, we hope.”
McLaughlin ended the 2013-14 Championship meet with 12 wins and $631,294 in purse earnings, and has averaged 13 wins and $581,893 over the past three winters. Among his career graded stakes victories at Gulfstream are the GI Donn H. with Invasor (Arg) (Candy Stripes) in 2007 and Albertus Maximus (Albert the Great) in 2009; the 2011 GII Fountain of Youth S. with Soldat (War Front); the 2009 GII Davona Dale S. with Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union) and the 2008 GII Mac Diarmida S. with Stream of Gold (Strike a Gold Mine); the GIII Very One S. in 2004, 2006 and 2012; and the Holy Bull both last year and in 2005.