Shadwell homebred Takaful (Bernardini), who was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' after his impressive debut victory Saturday at Belmont Park, may be in line to make his next start in stakes company.
“It wasn't a shock, but it was a nice surprise,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said of Takaful's eight-length victory (video). “We always knew he was a talented horse, but I thought he might need one race for experience. We knew the raw ability was there, but when he broke and started running like that, wow. That was a wild race. It's a little bit like when Frosted won by 14 [lengths]. Did we see that coming? No, but it wasn't a total shock either.”
Asked what was next for the talented colt, McLaughlin said, “There are a lot of options of where we could go next. Of course, the [Nov. 26 GIII] Remsen is a possibility, but we'll continue to monitor how he comes back and I'll speak with [Shadwell racing manager] Rich [Nichols] as we plot out a course.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
