Trainer McMahon Reaches 1,000-Win Milestone

Larry Rabold's Polished Gal provided trainer Hugh McMahon with his 1,000th victory in thrilling fashion, getting her nose down on the wire ahead of late-running Splendor Gal in the sixth race at Laurel Park Nov. 22.

Polished Gal, a 4-year-old Maryland-bred filly ridden by Victor Rosales, ran six furlongs in 1:12.93 on a fast main track to earn her fourth win from 19 starts in the claiming event for fillies and mares.

McMahon, a 52-year-old native of Doncaster, England, has won with four of his past nine starters, winning once on each of Laurel's four programs this week. Polished Gal—his only starter on the Sunday card—was preceded by Paynterbynumbers Nov. 19, He's Zippin On By Nov. 20, and Gary Doing Biz Nov. 21.

"I'm excited. It's a significant landmark," McMahon said. "It's humbling as well. I was just speaking with one of our grooms, and he congratulated me and I told him it's not really me, it's a team, But we're more than a team, we're a family. My name is up there, but it's not really me. There are a lot of people that are involved in this, but more than anything it's God's gift to us. Everything that we have is a gift."

A steady presence among Maryland's leading trainers since going out on his own in 2011, McMahon was the state's overall wins leader in 2013. This year, one curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, he has 33 wins from 206 starters with purse earnings of more than $930,000. McMahon has topped the $1 million mark in each of the past nine years, with highs of 166 wins and $3.98 million in 2013.

McMahon is tied for fourth with nine wins from 37 starters at Laurel's fall meet, which began Oct. 8.            

McMahon was introduced to the sport by watching the races on television with his father, a coal miner in northern England. He was encouraged to become a jockey and attended the riding academy there, winning 59 races after coming to the U.S. in the 1990s before hanging up his tack in 1998.

In 2005, McMahon became an assistant to trainer Scott Lake, at the time running one of the biggest operations in the country with a peak of 287 horses in 2008. McMahon worked for Lake, a winner of more than 6,100 races, through 2010, having saddled 108 winners in his own name, starting with Flying Retsina Run June 9, 2005, at Pimlico Race Course at odds of 35-1.

McMahon won 98 races the first year on his own and followed with seasons of 146, 166, and 109 wins from 2012-14. He won individual meet titles at Laurel's 2013 winter and fall stands and shared its 2014 winter crown. He has also been the leading trainer at Timonium and Colonial Downs.

Ranked third overall in 2012, McMahon's 74 wins led all Maryland trainers in 2013. His first big horse was Don'tgetsuspicious, whom he inherited from Lake and trained to 10 wins, three in stakes, and $324,817 in purse earnings from 28 starts from 2010-12.

"A lot of what gets lost is that we wouldn't be here if it weren't for the owners. I've been lucky to have a lot of great owners over the years that have carried us, especially through the dry spells," McMahon said. "They've been very loyal to us, even through the losing streaks, and gotten us where we are."