McLaughlin Looks to End Saratoga With a Flourish

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin will look to end his meet with a flourish when he sends out Godolphin Racing's Bay of Plenty in the Woodward on Saturday at the Spa and Cheyenne Stables' Sallisaw in the Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful on Closing Day.

Bay of Plenty has been on an upward trajectory since finishing second at first asking on New Year's Day 2014 at Gulfstream Park. Making his NYRA debut two starts later, the son of Medaglia d'Oro romped over Aqueduct Racetrack's inner track, taking a field of maidens gate to wire by 7 ¼ lengths. In his next start, the dark bay colt upped the ante with a 9 ¼-length score in a first-level allowance race at Belmont Park and earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Forced to hit the sidelines for five months following his dominant allowance victory, Bay of Plenty returned in the fall at Belmont and didn't miss a beat with a strong front-running score in an optional claimer. He then entered stakes company for the first time in the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap on November 1 at the Big A and, after pressing a fast pace, finished a promising second to fellow Woodward entrant Protonico to close out his sophomore campaign.

In 2015, Bay of Plenty kicked off the year with yet another gate-to-wire triumph onApril 29 at Belmont, but faltered when thrown to the wolves in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in his subsequent start. Given two months to recuperate, the McLaughlin trainee rebounded with a convincing performance in the Alydar Stakes on August 9 at the Spa, again employing his usual tactics en route to a 2 ½-length win. His effort in the Alydar earned him a career-best Beyer of 102.

Bay of Plenty is likely to have company on the front end in the Woodward in the form of Liam's Map, a speedy colt from the barn of trainer Todd Pletcher who is coming off a heroic second-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney after setting a blazing pace.

"[Bay of Plenty] and Liam's Map both have a lot of speed; it might not be so good," said McLaughlin. "We'll have to see. We could rate [Bay of Plenty] but he's not that easy to rate."

On Monday, McLaughlin will send out Sallisaw in the seven-furlong Hopeful, the first Grade 1 on the NYRA circuit for straight 2-year-olds. The son of Exchange Rate stalked the pace in his debut and edged away to prevail by three-quarters of a length on August 15 at Saratoga.

Source: NYRA Communications