Reeve McGaughey to Have First Starter Feb. 2 at Oaklawn

Trainer Reeve McGaughey will have to wait another day for his first career starter.

McGaughey's initial Oaklawn entrant, Fast Talking, was scratched from the ninth race Feb. 1 after failing to draw in from the also-eligible list. Now, McGaughey is scheduled to be a "trainer of record" for the first time in Oaklawn Park's featured eighth race Feb. 2, a first-level allowance sprint for 3-year-olds, with Crocketts Bluff for breeder/owner John Ed Anthony of Hot Springs, Ark.

"Excited to get started," McGaughey said during training hours Saturday morning.

McGaughey, 30, is the son of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and the nephew of Charles LoPresti, who trained two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan.

It was assumed when Shug McGaughey decided to have a string at Oaklawn for the first time since 1985 this year—based largely on reuniting in 2019 with Anthony—the horses would run under his name. Reeve McGaughey said he spent the past several winters working for his father in Florida and had a lengthy stint as an assistant under LoPresti.

"We planned to work through the year, and then when we got to Oaklawn, they would go in my name," Reeve McGaughey said, adding that he and his father didn't want to publicize the decision. 

Reeve McGaughey said he has 11 horses at Oaklawn. Most are for Anthony, among the most successful owners in Oaklawn history. Anthony, under his Loblolly banner, campaigned three Eclipse Award winners—Temperence Hill (champion 3-year-old male of 1980), Vanlandingham (champion older male of 1985), and Prairie Bayou (champion 3-year-old male of 1993). Shug McGaughey trained Vanlandingham, who won Oaklawn's Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds in 1984. 

Reeve McGaughey said he's been around horses his entire life and is prepared for the next chapter in his career.

"I've been lucky to work for some people that have given me a good education," McGaughey said.

Crocketts Bluff, a son of Tale of the Cat, returns to sprints after breaking his maiden Oct. 31 at Laurel Park and finishing sixth in a first-level allowance race Nov. 14 at Laurel. Both races were a mile. Crocketts Bluff finished seventh in his six-furlong career debut Oct. 3 at Laurel.

"He's a nice horse," McGaughey said. "Gave him a little bit of a break, and he's been doing really well since. He's ready to run."

Also under McGaughey's care are grade 3 winner Plainsman and recent Aqueduct maiden special weight graduate Stanhope, both for Anthony's Shortleaf Stable. Stanhope, a 3-year-old son of Street Sense , worked three furlongs in :36.20 Saturday. 

Racing Royalty

Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  is scheduled to be represented by his first Oaklawn starter, American Butterfly, in the featured eighth race Sunday for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. The six-furlong first-level allowance race is for 3-year-olds and has an $86,000 purse.

American Pharoah was North America's leading first-crop sire in 2019 with such stakes winners as Four Wheel Drive in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T).

"I think that American Pharoah could very well be a very prominent sire of the future," Lukas said before training hours Saturday. "I've even gotten to the point where I said he could replace A.P. Indy at some point. I think he's doing really well. Everybody I talk to like the foals. I don't have skin in the game. I don't own any of them, and that's a hell of a commercial, to be perfectly honest. But I think he's really going to be a force in the industry."

Lukas has two other offspring of American Pharoah at Oaklawn, both colts. 

Unraced Fifty Grand, co-owned by noted college football television analyst Kirk Herbstreit, returned to the work tab Jan. 29, covering three furlongs in :36.80. Lukas said he's in no hurry with Fifty Grand, but mid-March is a "fairly reasonable target" for his debut. Pharoah Cat, winless in three starts last year, is more advanced in his training and will run earlier at the meet, Lukas said.

"American Butterfly doesn't look like (American Pharoah)," Lukas said. "The other two look exactly like him, physically."

American Butterfly will be making his first start since finishing third in an entry-level allowance sprint Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs. American Butterfly broke his maiden Aug. 17 at Saratoga Race Course and ran sixth in his two-turn debut, the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) Oct. 5 at Keeneland.

"He's doing very well," Lukas said. "I even thought about maybe going long with him right away, but I opted for a conditioned race short. So we'll see where we've got him and then maybe look at something more serious."

Another Oaklawn-based unraced son of American Pharoah is Chain Mover for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. A half brother to millionaire and multiple grade 2 winner Smooth Air, Chain Mover has had six published workouts since Dec. 18, including a five-furlong move in 1:01.80 out of the gate Jan. 28. 

"He's certainly not a sprinter," co-owner Alex Lieblong said, adding that Chain Mover is nearing his debut.

American Pharoah won the Rebel Stakes (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G1) en route to the 2015 Triple Crown for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Retired in 2015 after winning nine of 11 starts, American Pharoah stands at Ashford Stud in Kentucky. 

A Serengeti Sighting?

Serengeti Empress, among the country's leading 3-year-old fillies of 2019, is expected to make at least one start this year at Oaklawn, trainer Tom Amoss said Thursday morning.

"You'll definitely see 'Serengeti,'" Amoss said.

Amoss said Serengeti Empress won't make the $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares Feb. 17, but the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) March 14 is on the radar. The Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 18.

"Her schedule is going to include Oaklawn in her next start," Amoss said. 

The Fair Grounds-based Serengeti Empress captured the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1)—the country's most prestigious race exclusively for 3-year-old fillies—last year at Churchill Downs and ran third in the Nov. 2 Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita Park. She opened her 4-year-old campaign with a runner-up finish in the Houston Ladies Classic Stakes (G3) last month at Sam Houston Race Park.

Serengeti Empress has five wins in 13 starts and $1,521,520 in earnings. She finished third in the voting for champion 3-year-old filly. The daughter of multiple Oaklawn stakes winner and millionaire Alternation  is owned by Joel Politi.