McLaughlin Barn Stocked With Talented 2YOs

He arrived at Gulfstream Park’s Championship Meet last year with an ace up his sleeve, but trainer Kiaran McLaughlin could be holding a full house in his return this winter.

Among the horses the Lexington, Ky. native may have in South Florida are a quartet of talented 2-year-olds led by Classy Class, Frosted and Imperia, each among the 23 single betting interests in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby future wager, along with Mawthooq, a 10 ½-length maiden winner on November 26 at Aqueduct.

That doesn’t include Ocean Knight, an impressive debut winner at Aqueduct on December 13; well-regarded Tapit colt Good Pick Nick or the unstarted Jess’s Dream, a son of two Horse of the Year titlists whose unveiling is expected to come during the Championship Meet which opened on December 6.

“We will have a few nice young horses,” said McLaughlin, who is stabled at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. “We have 50 stalls at Palm Meadows, and hopefully we have 50 nice horses that fit. We feel good about Florida. We’re happy to be there, happy to be at Palm Meadows and hopefully we have a good winter.”

Last year, McLaughlin brought Grade 2 winner Cairo Prince to Gulfstream off a runner-up finish in the Remsen at Aqueduct. Considered the leading Triple Crown contender, Cairo Prince was an impressive winner of the Holy Bull (G2) before being hurt running fourth in the Florida Derby (G1) and subsequently retired.

McLaughlin was second in the Remsen again last month with Frosted, who came up a half-length short as the favorite after breaking from the outside of 13 horses and was eight lengths clear of third. Classy Class, owned by Cheyenne Stable, finished fourth after chasing the early pace.

Both Frosted, a son of Tapit, and Medaglia d’Oro-sired Imperia are owned by Godolphin Stable. Imperia made his first three starts on grass, winning the Pilgrim (G3) at Belmont Park and finishing a troubled 10th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) before rallying to be second, beaten a head in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs in his dirt debut.

“I said that maybe this was a good time to run him on the dirt and see if he would like it, rather than waiting until February to find out if he’s equally good on the dirt,” McLaughlin said. “Sometimes you start a horse on the turf because of the distance, and that’s what he wanted. We felt like we weren’t going to waste our time running short on the dirt, so we ran him long on the turf and he ran very well.”

Jess’s Dream, Curlin-sired Ocean Knight and Good Pick Nick are all owned by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Stable. Jess’s Dream is also by Curlin, the 2007-08 Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer, and is the first foal out of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra. He is named for Banke’s late husband, Jess Jackson, who campaigned both Curlin and Rachel Alexandra and envisioned their mating.

“He is working very well and should get started before the year’s end,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously, he is very well-bred. He’s been working weekly and doing very well. He’s really improving mentally and physically and we hope for big things from him. He’s a talented colt. It’s nice to have him in the barn.”

Other notable McLaughlin horses are Florida-bred allowance winner Transparent, targeting the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Classic on Jan. 17; Mutin, a 4-year-old colt bred in France who won a Nov. 9 turf allowance at Aqueduct in his North American debut and being pointed to the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2) on Jan. 10; 2-year-old filly Cavorting, winner of the Adirondack (G2) this summer; graded stakes-placed 3-year-old fillies Penwith and Divided Attention and juvenile filly Gap Year.

“We have some nice horses,” McLaughlin said, “possibly for the big races, we hope.”

McLaughlin ended the 2013-14 Championship meet with 12 wins and $631,294 in purse earnings, and has averaged 13 wins and $581,893 over the past three winters. Among his career graded stakes victories at Gulfstream are the Donn Handicap (G1) with Invasor in 2007 and Albertus Maximus in 2009; the 2011 Fountain of Youth (G2) with Soldat; the 2009 Davona Dale (G2) with Justwhistledixie and 2008 Mac Diarmida (G2) with Stream of Gold; the Very One (G3) in 2004, 2006 and 2012; and the Holy Bull both last year and in 2005 with Closing Argument.

Florida-bred Closing Argument gave McLaughlin his best finish in the Kentucky Derby, running second by a half-length at 71-1 to 50-1 winner Giacomo. He won the 2006 Belmont Stakes (G1) with Jazil and the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) with eventual Horse of the Year Invasor, and the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) with Lahudood.

Source: Gulfstream Park Communications