Mohaymen Wows in First Churchill Work

Neal McLaughlin pointed to his arm by way of telling his brother and boss, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, what he thought of Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) contender Mohaymen's workout April 20 at Churchill Downs.

"That gave me goosebumps," Neal McLaughlin said. "That was a 'wow' breeze."

Shadwell Stable's son of Tapit   cruised a half-mile in :46 4/5 under exercise rider Miguel Jaime, the fastest of 27 works at the distance, in his first workout since struggling home fourth at 4-5 odds in the April 2 Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (gr. I). Churchill clockers caught his splits in :12 flat for the first eighth-mile, :23 3/5 for the quarter, and :35 1/5 for three-eighths, galloping out to five-eighths in :59 3/5 and six furlongs in 1:12 4/5. The second-fastest half-mile work of the morning was fellow Kentucky Derby candidate Mo Tom's :47 flat.

"He was feeling really good, so we thought he was going to work well," said Kiaran McLaughlin, who grew up in Lexington, Ky. "He's a special colt."

Neal McLaughlin said one never knows how horses will care for the Churchill surface.

"It's a little bit of a different surface," he said. "Some of them like it, some don't. That's why we're here early. But that was way beyond expectations. We were looking for a :48, up in 1:01. He went (:46 4/5), up in (:59 3/5), galloped out again and came back, took one sip of water, not any sweat on him. He's happy, not blowing at all. The rider said he just loved the track here. That was amazing to see that."

In losing by 8 1/4 lengths to unbeaten champion Nyquist, the previously undefeated Mohaymen plummeted from being the Kentucky Derby favorite to possibly being no better than fourth or fifth choice.

Few horses win the Derby after failing to finish in the top three in their final prep, especially if the margin isn't close. But if Mohaymen's final scheduled work next week is as impressive, a lot of handicappers could forgive him the Florida Derby, appreciating the value the colt could bring at the betting windows.

His camp certainly hasn't lost confidence—and Kiaran McLaughlin admitted that "I didn't think this horse could lose" the Florida Derby.

"I think it was the perfect storm that day," Neal McLaughlin said of the Florida Derby. "It was very hot and humid and it rained. It rained during the first race, and the track was (harrowed). It wasn't sealed because we didn't expect rain. The storm developed over the top of the track, and it rained hard (and) rained for a while. It made the track sloppy, then it was drying out, and they were trying to get it fast again and it rained again. Then right before the race, they decided to harrow it and make it look nice. And it was just not to his liking.

"When you have a horse who runs a bad race like that, on a funny or different track, a lot of times they'll be stressed because it was a stressful experience—they couldn't get a hold of the track, were just spinning their wheels. He wasn't like that. He came back, wasn't blowing. I think he just didn't like it and (jockey Junior Alvarado) and him, kind of together at the quarter pole, they (saw they) weren't going to win. He wasn't going to kill him to make him try to run up there a little closer, and the horse took care of himself. I think he's really a smart horse and intelligent. He didn't like the feel of the track that day, the conditions, and he didn't give us 100%."

Concluded Kiaran McLaughlin: "We're going to draw a line through that race. He was very wide, and the track was very wet. Not that he wouldn't handle wet here, but at least that's an excuse for us trainers. And the wide trip, he ran 54 feet farther than the winner. That's a lot of lengths difference."

Kiaran McLaughlin took cheerful issue at the idea that Mohaymen threw in a clunker, saying, "He didn't really throw in a clunker clunker. ... This is a really nice horse. We finished fourth last time, that's all I can say. A very nice horse beat us, and that's going to be the favorite in the Kentucky Derby. So we have to figure out a way to turn the tables on him. But we're happy where we are today."