McLaughlin Pleased With Cairo Prince's Workout

Less than a week after he was left scratching his head, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin gleefully watched Grade 2 winner Cairo Prince roll through a five-furlong work at Palm Meadows on Sunday.           

With jockey Luis Saez up, the sophomore Pioneerof the Nile colt went five-eighths in 59.70 seconds, the fastest of 22 works at the distance, breezing in company with Shadwell-owned 4-year-olds Qeyaas and Grade 3-placed Elnaawi, each timed in 1:00.40.            

“It was a great work,” McLaughlin said. “We worked back quick for us, from Tuesday to Sunday, to get him on a weekend schedule. (Today) he worked behind two nice older horses; they all needed company so it just worked out. He took the dirt real well and split horses, so we’re very happy with the way he worked. We couldn’t be happier.”            

On Dec. 31, Cairo Prince worked four furlongs in 51.90 seconds, which McLaughlin attributed to “rider error and company error.” The previous week, Cairo Prince went the same distance in 47.60 seconds.            

“There was nothing right or wrong about last week,” McLaughlin said. “Today was beautiful. We wanted him to take dirt at some point because he’s never taken dirt in his races, so it was just perfect. He’s a fit horse. It’s not a big deal if he goes a little bit slow or a little bit fast. We have a couple more works to go before the Holy Bull. It was just a beautiful work. We got it all done today.”            

The $400,000 Holy Bull (G2) will be run at Gulfstream on Jan. 25. Cairo Prince broke his maiden on Oct. 6 at Belmont Park, then won the Nashua (G2) on Nov. 3 and was second by a nose to Honor Code in the Remsen (G2) on Nov. 30 in his last start.            

“He’s filled out some and put on a little weight,” McLaughlin said. “We don’t need to change anything about him, we just need to keep him the same. He gave Honor Code six pounds last time, so we’re happy. We feel like we have a very nice horse and we just need to keep him at that level. We don’t need to change anything, we don’t need to improve; we just need to hopefully stay the same.”