McGaughey likes his 2 chances Saturday in Arlington Million

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey feels like Integration finally might win this weekend for the first time in nine Grade 1 tries. That is unless stablemate Fort Washington gets there first Saturday in the Grade 1 Arlington Million.

“If they run their race, both of them have got a big chance,” McGaughey said this week. “They ship down there, and if they shipped good and get over there good, I think that (rivals) will sure know they’re in there.”

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Integration is the 8-5 morning-line favorite, and Fort Washington is the 4-1 third choice. They are among the eight older horses who were entered for the 1 1/4-mile turf race being run for the third time at Colonial Downs. The field also includes Group 1-placed England shipper Cairo, who is 7-2, and Kentucky Derby 2024 winner Mystik Dan, who is 9-2.

A 5-year-old Quality Road horse owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing, Integration has teased his backers with five second-place finishes in Grade 1 races. One was in last year’s Million won by Nations Pride, who races Saturday in the 1 1/2-mile Sword Dancer (G1) at Saratoga. None was closer than his loss by a head June 8 in the Manhattan at Saratoga. Even though he was well backed in each of those defeats, Integration was not favored in any of them, a sign that those races had quality fields.

“I think all the races (this year) were really good,” McGaughey said by phone from Saratoga. “The race up here, the Manhattan, we just didn’t get there. Against Carl Spackler (in the Maker’s Mark Mile) at Keeneland, again, we were just second best. He was going a flat mile. He was a pretty tough horse. And we didn’t catch the turf the way we wanted, not that it would have made any difference. But I thought he ran really good that day. In the Pegasus (World Cup Turf), he just missed. He came running, ran a big race and made the lead. I thought we had it, and Spirit of St Louis just ran him down, but he was in good form. (Spirit of St Louis’s) form went on, and he ran good (winning the Turf Classic) at Churchill Downs, so I think all three of those races were good races against pretty good horses.”

After saving ground in the Manhattan, Integration made a big rally to finish second to Deterministic. That suggests he will appreciate the added furlong Saturday.

The same goes for Fort Washington, Magic Cap Stables’ 6-year-old War Front entire who made deep-closing runs to Grade 3 victories this year in both the 1 1/16-mile Canadian Turf at Gulfstream Park and the 1 1/8-mile Dinner Party at Pimlico.

“I wanted to run him a little bit farther,” McGaughey said on Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “The Canadian there was a tough race. We came running and just got up. At Pimlico in the Dinner Party, he was seemingly much the best, and we kind of went on from there. I thought both those races were really good races. I thought his race in the Pegasus (closing from 10th to fifth) was a really good race. We had the outside post, we were pretty wide the whole way, and I thought he ran really well. I think that he deserves to be in there, and I think he’ll make a good account of himself.”

Fort Washington was on the wrong lead for much of his stretch run last out June 28 when he finished in a dead heat for fourth in the Wise Dan (G2).

“A little disappointed at Churchill, but when he finally got it together, he finished fine,” McGaughey said. “He’s trained really well up here, so I thought, well, this is a good place to give him a shot.”

That is saying a lot considering the presence of Integration, whose strong showings in top-level races have built his lifetime bankroll to $1,643,950 from a record of 14: 5-4-1. McGaughey said last year’s runner-up result had him hungry to go one better with a horse who began his career with two wins at Colonial before winning there again last summer in the black-type Million Preview.

“It had always been in my mind with Integration,” he said. “He’s run good over that track, so that was always in my making. ... (Nations Pride) kind of got the jump on us a little bit (last year). We just weren’t able to catch up. Nations Pride was in good form at the time, and we were, too. We were just second best. Nations Pride’s not in there. Hopefully, we’ll be pretty competitive.”

Keeping the most recent riders on board for the Million, McGaughey said it would be up to Hall of Famer John Velázquez to decide if he might have Integration more forward than mid-pack Saturday. Júnior Alvarado is all but certain to have Fort Washington closing late in a fashion so classically familiar for a route of turf.

“You would think so,” McGaughey said. “It just depends on how it comes up. With both horses they can kind of be where you want them to be. They’ve both got good riders on them, and we’ll leave that part of it kind of up to them. This is the second time with Johnny for Integration, and Júnior seems to fit Fort Washington really well. We’ll just pretty much leave it up to them on how the race sets up.”

McGaughey, 74, did not enter too many horses in the Million when it was Arlington Park’s signature race for 37 of its first 38 runnings. Lure was scratched because of soft ground in 1993, Good Reward finished eighth in 2005, and Boisterous came in ninth in 2012.

Now that the race is established in Virginia, McGaughey has become a regular. Never Explain took fourth in 2023, and then came Integration’s second last summer. Count him as a fan of Colonial Downs.

“It’s a good place,” he said. “I think it’s a good turf course.”

He saw room for improvement in the stakes program, though, one that is flush with money from historic horse-racing machines that have fueled a longer meet full of incentives for Mid-Atlantic horses.

“I’m a little disappointed, I know it’s a political thing, with the Virginia-Maryland restricted stuff,” McGaughey said. “You don’t get quite as many opportunities, especially in some of the stakes. But I think it’s just a good place. I think the purses are good. I think the races are competitive. When you’re in them, you’ve got a chance.”

McGaughey himself will not be there. His son Reeve is looking after Integration, Fort Washington and first-time starter Street Style, a 2-year-old Code of Honor colt who goes in the second race.

Watching from back at Saratoga, McGaughey said he is happy that Churchill Downs Inc. has kept the Arlington Million going and hopeful the race clings to its status as a Grade 1 race.

“I’m glad they kept it in circulation. It’s a kind of a neat race,” he said. “It’s always kind of a race that’s been on my calendar. Now that I’ve gotten to run in it the last couple years and been competitive, it’s kind of gotten a little bit higher on my calendar. I think it’s a good spot in a good place, and hopefully it’s a Grade 1. And hopefully one of these days, we’ll be able to win it.

A sunny, 82-degree day is forecast Saturday for New Kent, Va., where the Million is carded as the 11th of 12 races at 5:54 p.m. EDT.