Shug McGaughey

Shug McGaughey joins the TDN Writers' Room to talk about the return of New York racing along with his star four-year-old Code of Honor.

Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}), an Eclipse Award finalist for champion 3-year-old male in 2019, is targeting the GIII Westchester S. for his return on opening weekend at Belmont Park June 6. The dominating GI Runhappy Travers S. hero has post five workouts at Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey's Payson Park base in Florida this spring dating back to mid-April. He is currently in training with McGaughey at Belmont Park. "He went five-eighths in 1:01 and change the other day [at Payson May 17]," McGaughey said. "He was a...

Twenty-five years is a long time to spend in a job. Especially one in the world of training Thoroughbreds, which necessitates frequent travel, untold hours of overtime, waking up before the sun and physically toiling away at the daily work of controlling and redirecting the energy of half-ton animals. But when you get to spend that quarter-century under the tutelage of a Hall of Fame trainer, the time becomes an asset. And now, with a life's worth of experience accrued working under Shug McGaughey, former assistant Robby Medina has made...

Favorite: Easy Goer (Alydar). Every once in a while a horse comes around that makes you believe that nothing is impossible. They don't just win, they win effortlessly. They don't just run fast, they break track records. They have the perfect pedigree. They're in the right hands. What can they accomplish? What can't they accomplish? That was the way I felt about Easy Goer. After losing his debut by a nose, Easy Goer reeled off four straight wins, including the 1988 GI Champagne S. He would win by four, five...

7th-TAM, $20K, Msw, 3yo, 7f, 3:30 p.m. ET Lynne and Edward Hudson's pricey sophomore colt CREED (Honor Code) adds spice to the Wednesday card at Tampa Bay Downs as he makes his career debut for Shug McGaughey in this elongated sprint. A son of GSP Aspiring (Seeking the Gold), the bay hammered for $650,000 at Keeneland September and boasts a strong female family. Second dam Lassie's Legacy (Deputy Minister) is out of MGSW/GISP Weekend Surprise (Secretariat), making her a half-sister to the legendary A.P. Indy (Seattle Slew) and MGISW Summer...

Trainer Christophe Clement has been a familiar face on the racing scene for the last three decades and 2020 looks to be a banner year for the French-born horseman, who is on the verge of collecting his 2000th career victory, and also features among finalists for the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame's 2020 inductions. "Well, you don't really wake up in the morning thinking 'I'm going to win 2000 races'," admitted the 55-year-old native of Paris. "You just wake up in the morning thinking, 'let's do the best...

Grade I winner Abscond (Blame), favored in the local Ginger Brew S. last out, stumbled at the start and got rank after that before finishing a close third, but will have a chance at redemption when likely going off as the public's choice again in Saturday's GIII Herecomesthebride S. for 3-year-old turf fillies at Gulfstream. A debut victress sprinting on the Ellis green last July, the bay was runner-up to 'TDN Rising Star' Kimari (Munnings) in the Bolton Landing S. Aug. 14 at Saratoga before gamely prevailing in the GI...

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has begun serving a 15-day suspension handed down by the Ohio Racing Commission after a horse he trained tested positive for the prohibited medication hydrochlorothiazide. The suspension began Feb. 6 and runs through Feb. 20. McGaughey was also fined $500. The test came from a Sept. 9, 2019 race at Belterra Park and with the mare Tactical Affair (Tapit). Tactical Affair, who is owned by Phipps Stable, won the Sept. 9 allowance race, but has been disqualified and placed last. According to Bill Crawford,...

Sixteen prominent Thoroughbred trainers have expressed their support for the Horseracing Integrity Act via an open letter "to the Thoroughbred Community" sent out Friday. The trainers who signed on are: Tom Albertrani, Christophe Clement, Ben Colebrook, Gary Contessa, Arnaud Delacour, Janet Elliott, Mark Hennig, Kiaran McLaughlin, Shug McGaughey, Ken McPeek, Tom Morley, Graham Motion, Todd Pletcher, John Sadler, George Weaver and Nick Zito. The letter reads: "Horse racing is at a pivotal moment in its long history in the United States. The past six months presented a string of events...

It its 34-year history and over hundreds of races, the Breeders' Cup has provided many a thrill and many a great race. But virtually everyone agrees that one race stands alone: that the 1988 Distaff, won by Personal Ensign, was the greatest Breeders' Cup race ever run. This year marks the 30th anniversary of that race and on this week's Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made, we'll look back at this great race with trainer Shug McGaughey and jockey Randy Romero. Recalls McGaughey of the race,...

It its 34-year history and over hundreds of races, the Breeders' Cup has provided many a thrill and many a great race. But virtually everyone agrees that one race stands alone, that the 1988 Distaff, won by Personal Ensign, was the greatest Breeders' Cup race ever run. This year marks the 30th anniversary of that race and on this week's Thoroughbred Daily News podcast, brought to you by Taylor Made, we'll look back at this great race with trainer Shug McGaughey and jockey Randy Romero.

Stuart S. Janney homebred Ironicus (Distorted Humor) is the third horse this week to be removed from Breeders' Cup consideration due to injury. The gray fractured his cannon bone and will be forced to miss the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, in which he was likely to be one of the top choices. "He has a small fracture of his cannon bone," trainer Shug McGaughey told the TDN via phone Thursday. "They will put a screw in it tomorrow and he will be fine. He was training until last Sunday and...