Barn Tour: Gargan is on the Derby trail again with Dornoch

This time last year, a Barn Tour feature with trainer Danny Gargan centered on his Grade 2 Remsen Stakes winner who appeared bound for the Kentucky Derby trail.

Same situation, different year.

Last year, it was Dubyuhnell (more on him later). This year, it’s Dornoch, who won Saturday’s race by a nose after leading at every call but having to fight off a challenger in Sierra Leone.

“Pretty special race,” Gargan told Horse Racing Nation.

Dornoch, a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, brought his record to 4: 2-2-0 with the win and earned 10 qualifying points for the 2024 Derby.

“He's a big talented horse,” Gargan said. “I obviously said back in May that he's the most talented horse I've had in my barn. He's got a lot of talent, and I think he's got a lot more to show us than he's given us so far.”

Dornoch’s sharing of Mage’s sire Good Magic and dam Puca is where the similarity ends, Gargan said. “He's nothing like Mage, they'd be the opposite. … He looks just like the mare. He's almost 17 hands, and he's a big boy. The complete package.”

Gargan isn’t sure what the next start will be for Dornoch. “We'll get him down to Florida and figure it out. But he could show up somewhere down there or somewhere in New York early in the year.”

If he could change anything about his time with Dornoch, it might be his decision to sell his stake in the colt.

“When we bought him, I owned the majority of him until about two weeks after Mage was second in the Florida Derby.”

But he’s not entirely unhappy with the move. “I do regret it financially a little bit. But I'm happy that Randy Hill and a couple of the guys own him now. Randy's been with me for a long time. ... As long as Randy's in the game, I'll train him for him. So I'm happy he has him.

In addition to R.A. Hill Stable, Mage’s owners are West Paces Racing, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Two Eight Racing and Pine Racing Stables.

Here’s a look at other horses in Gargan’s stable for the latest in HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Dubyuhnell. After his Remsen win, this son of Good Magic was eighth in the Sam F. Davis (G3) and then 11th in the Florida Derby (G1). Then he was given a break. “He ran bad twice,” Gargan said. “He's never had surgery or anything like that. We brought him back, and he wasn't moving as good in behind, and we just stopped on him and waited for him, brought him back again because we want him to be good.” After working with Dornoch, he won an Oct. 28 optional-claiming allowance race at Keeneland after a stretch duel. He just went back to work at Gargan’s Palm Meadows winter base, and look for him next in the Harlan’s Holiday (G3) on Dec. 30.

Radio Red. The 3-year-old son of the The Big Beast broke his maiden in February and is 1-for-6 since. He’s entered in an optional-claiming allowance at Aqueduct on Thursday. “Radio Red, he's a character. He will not run well in the mud. He's run four times on an off track and didn't perform well.” For Thursday, “we’re hoping it doesn't rain. We'd like to get a dry track so he can run big.”

Torigo. The 3-year-old Munnings colt has yet to break his maiden in five starts, and he’s entered in a maiden special weight at Gulfstream on Sunday. “It's very unfortunate. It's a tough year for grass horses – scratch, scratch had to ship all the way to Kentucky Downs, bring him back, scratch. And then last time I ran him a distance (1 3/16 miles at Aqueduct), we really didn't want to run him that far, but what do you do? Just not run? And he's doing really well. We think he's going to run big. So hopefully he breaks his maiden and keeps going forward.”

Ringy Dingy. This 2-year-old daughter of Dialed In broke her maiden on second try in September and won a black-type stakes at Delaware Park before finishing seventh in the Demoiselle (G2) on Saturday. “I love Ringy Dingy,” Gargan said. “She didn't perform well the other day. She didn't like the mud and couldn't get a hold of the track. So she's going to go down to Florida, and she'll be given four to six weeks off.”

Society Man. The 2-year-old son of Good Magic has had one start, a seventh-place finish at Saratoga in July, and he comes back Friday in a maiden special weight at Aqueduct. “We gelded him, gave him some time off. He probably needs this race, but he's a real talented horse, he just has to put it all together. And looking forward to seeing how he performs. He was actually training really well with Dornoch. He did his last two works with Dornoch, and Dornoch won the Remsen. They trained two works ago, and it was hard to tell who worked better. … I hope he's good because I own the majority of him.”

Brick Ambush. This 2-year-old Laoban colt broke his maiden Nov. 17 on his second try. “He's a horse that we've always kind of liked. He was a little later coming around, and we gave him some time in the summer. We gave him his first race and planned to run him back and win, which he did, which was nice. And he'll be running on Dec. 16 in the $500,000 Stallion Stakes.”

Justdeny. The 2-year-old Justify filly is 0-for-3, finishing second last out in a maiden special weight at Keeneland. “I really like her. I think she's a really talented filly. I think she's going to be a nice horse next year. She kind of was unfortunate. First time out, rain got us. She's a grass horse, so I just gave her her first race and decided to stay in because it was raining and to keep your day. And we came back and got a really bad trip, ran fifth, and we shipped to Keeneland thinking we'd win, and Chad (Brown) ran a really nice first-time starter (Lady de Berry) who came back and went off the favorite in the (Jimmy Durante, G3) stakes Sunday in California and didn't get a good trip, should have won that stake. So I really like Justdeny a whole lot. She went to Ocala for six weeks right after her race. I think she's coming back in eight days.”

Gargan said his New York horses, such as Ramblin’ Wreck, Dakota Gold and 2-year-old Instamatic, generally take the winter off. Dakota Gold, however, “will come back earlier than the other ones because he's a New York-bred that can actually compete against open company. So he's just getting a month off.”

Gargan said he also has a “talented Get Stormy colt,” Got Sunny, who should start before the end of the year. He’s been working since August, most recently at Palm Meadows.