Aqueduct: Regent's House skips Gazelle, headed for allowance

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin opted to go the more conservative route with his debut-winning filly Regent’s House, and skipped Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle.

McLaughlin said he decided to aim for an allowance race and wait to tackle stakes company later in the year. Regent’s House, a daughter of Street Cry out of the multiple champion Ashado, won a six-furlong maiden race by 6 1/2 lengths here on March 9.

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“Going from six furlongs to a mile and an eighth and a maiden to a Grade 2 is a big jump in both categories,” McLaughlin said. “We decided to go the conservative route and shoot for an a-other-than. We’re going to try to do the right thing.”

McLaughlin said that Long River, narrowly beaten by stablemate Romansh in the Grade 3 Excelsior, is a candidate for the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic on April 19 as well as the Alysheba on May 2 at Churchill and the Pimlico Special on May 16.

“We’ll shop around for the right spot,” McLaughlin said.

◗ The stewards fined jockey Jose Ortiz $1,000 for failure to ride out his mount Offlee Catty in Wednesday’s second race. Offlee Catty finished second, but was nearly caught by the third-place finisher Jilly Mac. Ortiz had been previously warned by the stewards.