Barn Tour: McGaughey on filly Kathleen O., other talent

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey might not have a Kentucky Derby contender this year, but he does have a filly on the road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Kathleen O. is a daughter of Upstart who has gone 3-for-3, most recently with a last-to-first win in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, earning 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks. McGaughey won the Kentucky Oaks in 1993 with Dispute.

McGaughey told Horse Racing Nation that he was "very pleased" with her Davona Dale effort under Javier Castellano and that the filly showed improvement from her previous effort in January.

"I thought she did progress because she broke good. She ain't got speed, but she did break good. And from down inside – I didn't like the post. And she got steadied a little bit around the turn and was able to wait on the seam to open, which you could see was going to and she was there when he wanted her to, and I thought she was pretty handy winner."

McGaughey said Kathleen O. had a "nice work" on Saturday, breezing three furlongs in 37.40 seconds at Payson Park, and that her next start will be in the April 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) "if all goes well."

McGaughey provided updates on other top horses in his stable for HRN's Barn Tour series.

Greatest Honour. A Kentucky Derby contender last year until he was sidelined after finishing third in the Florida Derby (G2), he returned from a nearly one-year layoff with a sixth-place finish in the Challenger (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs.

"I think he just needed it, you know. I wanted to run him in New York and they told me the race wouldn't go, so I had to kind of do a double take and run him over there over a little deeper track and two turns. And I think he got out of it what we hoped he would get out of it. I mean, obviously we were in there to win, but we didn't. But Jose (Ortiz), he came back and he said it was a good race, he broke really good, put me a little closer than I'm used to being and he just kind of flattened out a little bit the last part of it."

McGaughey said that "if all goes well," he'd like to enter Greatest Honour in the Ghostzapper (G3) on April 2 at Gulfstream.

First Captain. The Curlin colt was 3-for-4 last year but was sidelined after a third-place finish in the Curlin at Saratoga. He came back last month with a win in a Gulfstream allowance.

"He ran awfully well, but he'd been training well," McGaughey said. "I didn't know really what to expect going seven eighths down here over the speed track. But I thought that I thought he ran really well and chased down a horse that was off kind of an easy lead. We plan on running in the Carter (G1) on Wood day up there (at Aqueduct). Seven-eighths, I don't think is his ideal distance, but I remember one time I won it they went 21, 43. So if they do that, that'll be his ideal distance."

Scalding. This 4-year-old Nyquist colt broke his maiden on his third try in January and has won twice since, most recently by a neck in the Challenger.

"He just had overcome some problems when he was a 3-year-old, and he's a horse that I've always liked. The first time we ran him, he ran terrible. And then we got stretched out and all those races have been good. He was a pretty easy winner those two races over at Tampa. He beat a pretty nice horse, Mott's horse (Cody's Wish), in the Challenger.He came out of that good and, all systems go, plan on going to the Ben Ali (G3) at Keeneland."

Flower Point. The 6-year-old mare was 3-for-7 last year and is "doing really well at Payson," McGaughey said. He plans to run her in the April 16 Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct.

Vigilantes Way. The 5-year-old mare had a record of 7: 2-2-1 last year and hasn't raced since finishing second in a listed stakes at Monmouth in September. She has been working in Ocala, Fla., and should be ready to race in late spring, McGaughey said.