Mohaymen Sitting on Go for Kentucky Derby

Shadwell Stable's multiple grade II winner Mohaymen put in his final pre-race work for the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), clocking four furlongs in :47 2/5 under regular exercise rider Miguel Jaime at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he was pleased with the Tapit   colt's preparations, as he seeks redemption off his only career loss in the April 2 Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (gr. I). Last week, Mohaymen got his first chance to stretch his legs on the Churchill surface and wowed with a half-mile in :46 4/5. This time he was clocked in splits of :12 3/5, :23 4/5, :and 35 2/5, with a five-furlong gallop out in 1:00 4/5.

REES: Mohaymen Wows in First Churchill Work

"Very similar to last week," McLaughlin said. "He's very happy. (He was) a little bit headstrong early, but he went :47 2/5, up in a minute and four-fifths. He's very happy, doing everything right. We're ready now. Seven more days."

Mohaymen has been on the muscle in his morning training, but his connections are pleased with the spark.

"He has been really keen with other horses around and galloping strong, so we're trying to pick a quiet time (for him to train)," McLaughlin said. "We've watched him every day since July last year; he's a special colt who trains really well, and everybody's just getting to see it now, what we see all the time. He came out of the Florida Derby in great shape. I haven't been worried about him, I haven't lost any confidence, and he's doing great.

"We just were unlucky Florida Derby day with a funny day, and a funny track, and a funny trip, and we hope we won't have all those things Saturday. He has always been in the game, he has always trained great, he has never had any issues, never missed a day of training. Even when I said we were going to breeze three times, he breezed three times. This time we said we were going to breeze twice, and he breezed twice."

Mohaymen will likely paddock school May 3 or May 4, according to assistant trainer Neal McLaughlin.

"We are going to take him over to the paddock," the trainer's brother said. "We'll probably go over there right before the break, like around 8, and we'll have him in there for half an hour, for the whole break, and we'll walk him around in there and then come out at 8:30 a.m. on the Derby track, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday.

"We've had him to the gate once, just for the gate crew to get to know him, really. He has been good at the gate his past few races, but it's more of a service to the gate crew to let them be introduced to the horse and know he's not going to act up on the day, but we might even bring him there one more time this week just to keep everybody happy."

Neal McLaughlin said he is happy with the way Mohaymen has taken to the surface at Churchill.

"He just really loves it here, loves the track, and it couldn't have been a better day to do it," he saud. "He just really has taken to everything here. The only thing (left to do) next week is just keeping him relaxed and keeping him within himself, because he really wants to train strong here. We really just have to have a balance that he doesn't do too much. But again, he loves it here, and that's something you never know until you get here and see it. And the last two breezes and the gallops in between, it's amazing. He has really taken to it here and I couldn't be happier with him."

Also on the worktab April 29 was Shadwell's homebred Gotham Stakes (gr. III) winner Shagaf, who went four furlongs in :47 4/5 with splits of :12 2/5, :24 1/5, and :35 4/5 for trainer Chad Brown. The Bernardini   colt galloped out five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 under the watchful eye of Shadwell vice president and general manager Rick Nichols.

"We're very pleased with both of them," Nichols said. "(Mohaymen had a) perfect work, so ready to go down the backside. It was a beautiful work, and Shagaf worked beautiful, too."

Of Mohaymen's Florida Derby loss, Nichols said: "All horses have bad days, that was his, and hopefully next Saturday he'll have a good day. We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Shagaf also looks to rebound, off a fifth in the April 9 Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I).

"He's such a big, long-striding horse, and he had to stop going into the second turn (in the Wood)," Nichols said. "It's just harder for him to get going, especially on that track. We're not worried about that, and he's really peaking right now, too. I think both of them will give a good account of themselves on Saturday, and it's really exciting."