McGaughey Satisfied With Travers Day Results
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey may not have won the 145th edition of the Grade 1 Travers with his talented Mr Speaker, but he had a productive day nonetheless, sending out a pair of winners including Abaco in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa.
Mr Speaker, a grandson of the legendary Personal Ensign, loomed at the top of the stretch in the $1.25 million Travers but failed to demonstrate the same kick he's shown in his turf races and flattened out to finish fifth.
"I thought Mr Speaker ran really, really well," said McGaughey, who trains the colt for the Phipps Stable. "What happened is what I was afraid would happen - when Jose [Lezcano] started asking him he just wouldn't have the hard punch that he has on the turf. I was not worried about him eating dirt or anything like that, I thought he handled it well, and Jose had him in great position. Sometimes when you go to ride horses that want the turf, they're just sort of even. I thought that's the way he was."
Mr Speaker will likely return to grass for his next start, which could be in the Grade 3, $500,000 Hill Prince on October 4 at Belmont Park, according to McGaughey.
Abaco's win in the $250,000 Ballston Spa was long overdue, McGaughey said. The 6-year-old mare was winless in 2014, despite running a pair of sensational races in the Grade 1 Diana and Grade 1 Jenny Wiley. On Saturday, the Phipps homebred found the "good" conditions to her liking and wore down trainer Graham Motion's Strathnaver in the shadow of the wire of the 1 1/16-mile turf affair.
"I was very, very pleased with Abaco," said McGaughey. "She had been knocking on the door and deserved to win a race like that. She ran hard and finished hard; we were tickled with that."
According to the trainer, Abaco will be pointed to the Grade 1, $600,000 Flower Bowl Invitational on September 27 at Belmont.
Early on in the day, McGaughey sent out a promising juvenile in Face the Music, who captured a 1 1/16-mile maiden turf race in front-running fashion. The Phipps Stable color-bearer set a sensible pace for the distance and kept the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Imperia, a son of Cocoa Beach, at bay to prevail by a neck.
"He's always trained like a nice horse," said McGaughey. "I was a little surprised he got beat [in his debut], but I think that's probably a pretty nice 2-year-old of Graham Motion's that beat him. Yesterday he broke good, and instead of fooling with him, [jockey Joel Rosario] left him alone. I thought he really ran a good race. I think he's a nice horse with a big future."
The Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim on September 28 at Belmont is a possibility for the colt's next start, according to McGaughey.
Source: NYRA