McLaughlin in Derby Pursuit With Full Hand

By Karen M. Johnson

When trainer Kiaran McLaughlin was plotting his course to the 2014 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), he did so with a horse who he believed represented his first proper chance of winning the race.

But two weeks before the Derby, Cairo Prince  , the smashing winner of the Miller Lite Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) and an early-spring favorite to win the first leg of the Triple Crown, was declared a non-starter with a leg injury. As it turned out, Cairo Prince did not race again and was retired last fall.

McLaughlin, a former D. Wayne Lukas assistant who grew up near Lexington, has started five horses in the Derby, all longshots. He came tantalizingly close to winning with his initial starter, the 71-1 Closing Argument, who ran second to Giacomo in 2005.

This year, the 54-year-old McLaughlin possesses strength in numbers and is currently navigating the Derby prep scene with four horses: Classy Class, Frosted, Imperia, and Ocean Knight.

"It probably was the biggest disappointment of my career, not getting to the Derby with Cairo Prince," said McLaughlin, who began training in 1993. "He had everything you looked for in a horse going into the Kentucky Derby. Furthermore, it was so difficult because I had brought Godolphin and Sheikh Mohammed in as a partner on Cairo Prince, after the Holy Bull. I had worked for Godolphin for 21 years, and because of that, I took it a little more personally and to heart when the horse got hurt."

Redemption looms this year in the form of two Godolphin homebreds, Frosted and Imperia.

On Feb. 21, the McLaughlin-trained colts will take divergent paths in search of Derby points. Frosted, the runner-up in the Lambholm South Holy Bull Stakes (gr. II) on Jan. 24, starts in the Besilu Stable's Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) at Gulfstream Park. Imperia, the winner of the Pilgrim Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Belmont Park and runner-up in his dirt debut in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II) at Churchill Downs, makes his first start of 2015 in the Risen Star Stakes (gr. II) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.

For Godolphin, McLaughlin has saddled one Derby starter, Alpha  , who finished 12th in 2012. Dating back to 1999, horses carrying Godolpin's ubiquitous royal blue silks have been stymied on the first Saturday in May. The best finish from the eight runners the juggernaut operation has sent to Churchill Downs came from China Visit, who was sixth in 2000.

"I know working with Godolphin and living in Dubai for 10 years, that Sheikh Mohammed is as passionate an owner as there is in the world," McLaughlin said. "He's given so much effort trying to be a top owner and to win top races around the world, and the Kentucky Derby is just one that has eluded him so far. But, hopefully, one day he will get it. I hope I'm a part of it. That would be fabulous. That Frosted and Imperia are both homebreds for Godolphin makes it an exciting thought."

Also in the Derby hunt for McLaughlin are Stonestreet Stables' Ocean Knight, who is undefeated in two starts after winning the Jan. 31 Sam F. Davis (gr. III) at Tampa Bay Downs, and Cheyenne Stables' Classy Class, the third-place finisher in the Withers Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct Racetrack on Feb. 7.

Ocean Knight will make his next start March 7, either in the Gotham Stakes (gr. III) at Aqueduct or the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II). His course of action will depend upon where the Todd Pletcher-trained Carpe Diem, who is co-owned by Stonestreet Stables, runs. Stonestreet wishes to keep the horses separate, and Carpe Diem is currently slated to compete in the Tampa Bay Derby.

McLaughlin has a few targets in mind for Classy Class as far as a next start is concerned, including the Gotham and Rebel Stakes (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park March 14, or an allowance race.

"We haven't got to the Derby yet with a good chance to win, and we're still not there. We need Derby points," McLaughlin said. "I will know more, obviously, in mid-April. But this year, at this particular point in time, I'm happy, and couldn't be feeling better with where we are at."

Since saddling his first winner, Lead The Dance, at Jebel Ali Racecourse in Dubai in 1993, most of McLaughlin's biggest training triumphs have come with horses owned by the United Arab Emirates ruling family, the Maktoums.

For Shadwell Stable, he trained 2006 Horse of the Year Invasor  , the winner of that year's Breeders' Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (gr. I), and the 2007 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I). Shadwell's Jazil won the 2006 Belmont Stakes (gr. I), providing both owner and trainer with their first American classic win. McLaughlin also conditioned Shadwell homebred Lahudood to win the 2007 Emirate Airlines Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (gr. IT), en route to a divisional title.

Through all those successes, McLaughlin was living with multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system which he was diagnosed with in October of 1998. There is no cure for MS, and McLaughlin manages it with daily medication. Among the symptoms is loss of balance and coordination, which has led to a couple of small concessions on McLaughlin's part.

"I don't move as well, so I don't saddle any of the horses in the afternoon," said McLaughlin, who is aided by his brother, Neal, and by assistant trainer Art Magnuson. "I used to golf often and now I don't do that anymore. Other than that, I get up every morning and carry on as normal."

McLaughlin, who has two children, Erin, 23, and Ryan, 20, with his wife of 31 years, Letty, said when he first found out he had MS, the news shook him to the core.

"I've always been an upbeat person, and to think back to that odd time in October of 1998, when I went into a depression for 30 days... I didn't want to get up from the couch," McLaughlin recalled. "I had two small children, and the unknown of what was going to happen to me was very scary."

McLaughlin's positive-thinking nature eventually kicked in, and he's come to terms with living with MS.

"At the time of my diagnosis, I asked the man upstairs for five good years, and now I'm on my fourth time renegotiating with him for five more," he said with a laugh. "I feel like I have MS, but it doesn't have me."