Kiaran McLaughlin has a stable of aces and he figures to be dealing from the top of the deck during the upcoming Breeders’ Cup. The trainer was born in the hotbed of horseracing breeding in Lexington, Kentucky and he briefly attended the University of Kentucky before his love of racing took over.
McLaughlin has a stable of aces because he put in the hard work and learned from some of the best in the game. He worked under David Kassen and John Hennig originally, but his education excelled when he joined the Hall of Fame outfit led by trainer D. Wayne Lukas.
Lukas is a legend in the game and McLaughlin gained savvy with him working with superstars like Open Mind, Dynaformer, Carson City and Salt Lake. After a brief stint as a jockey agent, McLaughlin’s big break came when he signed on as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. He was the leading trainer in Dubai several times and established himself as a world-class conditioner.
This year McLaughlin has a stable of aces that includes the near millionaire Lady Shipman. This 4-year-old filly by Midshipman is a flat-out win machine. She has won 13 of her 19 starts, has only been out of the money twice and she had excuses in those off efforts. Lady Shipman is approaching the fall season at the top of her game. She has won at a number of different venues sprinting on grass and has won her last 2 races. This miss proved her grit in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint last year at Keeneland when she was flying late but lost by a neck. She will be a handful in that race this year.
McLaughlin has options with his star Cavorting. This filly was a Grade 1 winner last year in the Test Stakes and she lost her best chance in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last year when she was caught 7 wide after breaking from the marooned 14 post.
Right now, Cavorting is peaking. She was a closing third in her first start of the year, won the Grade 2 Ruffian in her next start and is coming off a pair of Grade 1 victories. Her last win was in the Personal Ensign, which punched her ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She has won 8 of her 13 starts, has earned over $2 million and seems to be thriving now since being sent a route of ground. She is one of the best fillies McLaughlin has every trained and that is a mouthful. McLaughlin has trained Lahudood and Questing, both champions.
The racers Frosted and Mubtaahij cinches the case that McLaughlin has a stable of aces. Mubtaahij has been in a bit of a funk, but this colt can run. His coming out party was the UAE Derby last year in Dubai and his connections thought enough of him to try the Kentucky Derby. In that classic, he beat over half the field to the wire in his stateside debut.
Mubtaahij returned to run a good fourth to Triple Crown champ American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes and is fresh from a devastating head defeat in the Grade 1 Woodward.
Frosted is McLaughlin’s big horse. Frosted had the misfortune of hooking California Chrome in March and was still far from disgraced. He put up one of the best performances of 2016 when he won the Grade 1 Met Mile by over 14 lengths in June with an ‘out of this world’ 123 Beyer Speed Figure. It was a record-breaking performance.
Freshened about 7 weeks until the Grade 1 Whitney, Frosted showed a new wrinkle and took his rivals wire-to-wire. Bet down to 2-5 in the Grade 1 Woodward, Frosted didn’t break great and was beaten just 2 heads. This colt has won a third of his 18 starts with 6 seconds. He has earned nearly $4 million and his versatility bodes well when he shows up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
One thing about McLaughlin that separates him from most is the fact he has been there before. He has won Grade 1 races around the world. He has won the Belmont Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. McLaughlin will not get caught up in the moment.
Kiaran McLaughlin Has a Stable of Aces for Breeders’ Cup
