McLaughlin Mulls Derby Schedule for Frosted

Elated with Frosted's win in the Twinspires.com Wood Memorial (gr. I) April 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin did not let the University of Kentucky's loss to Wisconsin later that evening in the NCAA basketball semifinals dampen his spirits.

The two-length Wood victory put Godolphin's Frosted, a gray son of Tapit  , among the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) at Churchill Downs by giving him 100 qualifying points for the May 2 race.

"It was such a special win yesterday," McLaughlin, a former UK student, said April 5 about the Wood. "Having worked for Godolphin for 21 years and to have a 3-year-old for them, it worked out great."

Following Frosted's confounding fourth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth (gr. II) Feb. 21 at Gulfstream Park, where he stopped at the head of the stretch, McLaughlin changed practically everything about the colt except his color.

He sent Frosted from Florida back to Aqueduct, where he had broken his maiden and finished second in the grade II Remsen last November; changed riders from Irad Ortiz Jr. to Joel Rosario; adjusted his blinkers; had a minor procedure done on his throat to eliminate any risk of a breathing problem; and worked him three-quarters of a mile behind two horses.

"I don't often work a horse that distance and I feel bad about the rider change, but we had to change everything," McLaughlin said. "It worked out. We've had some nice wins, but that was our first grade I win since Alpha   won the Woodward (gr. I at Saratoga Race Course) in 2013, so it's been a while."

McLaughlin said he had not yet mapped out Frosted's schedule for the next four weeks.

"We have to make a plan and we have three options," he said. "We could stay here, work once here, work twice here, and then go to Kentucky. We could go there and work twice there. Or, we could go to Florida, like we've been training, fly in, work once—or not at all—and run. So we have to talk about it."

Frosted, whom McLaughlin likened to Cairo Prince   as the best 3-year-old he's trained for Godolphin, is now 2-4-0 from seven starts with earnings of $836,800.

Wood runner-up Tencendur earned 40 points, also enough to put him in the starting gate for the Run for the Roses, while third-place finisher El Kabeir had already earned enough points to qualify before the Wood.