Endorsed starts 4-year-old season with bang

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One older horse not quite ready for a race like the Pegasus World Cup but who figures to be heard from in the handicap division as the year progresses is Endorsed. The 4-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro made a triumphant return here Saturday by rallying to a two-length victory over a very strong field of optional-claiming rivals while making his first start since a fourth-place finish nearly five months earlier in the Travers.

“It was a great way to come back,” said Kiaran McLaughlin, who trains the homebred Endorsed for Godolphin. “We always thought a lot of this horse, and it’s great to start back on a winning note and now to be able to move on to stakes races.”

McLaughlin cited no specific reasons for Endorsed being absent during the final third of his 3-year-old campaign.

“Nothing major, thus a little bit of this and that,” said McLaughlin. “He was with us the whole time. He never went anywhere. Just a lot of little issues. Luckily, we were able to get him back and he ran great today.”