Kathleen O. gets Shug McGaughey back to the Kentucky Oaks
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It has been 29 years since trainer Shug McGaughey won the Kentucky Oaks, and 19 years since he last had a runner in the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.
This year McGaughey will return to the Oaks with Kathleen O., who cemented her status as one of the top contenders with a 2 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks. That victory was her fourth in as many starts.
“It’s something I’ve missed; I hold that race really in high regard,” McGaughey said of the Kentucky Oaks, a race he won in 1993 with Dispute but has not run in since Yell finished third in 2003. “I’m happy to have a chance to run in it again.”
McGaughey, 71, was also happy with Kathleen O.’s Gulfstream Oaks performance, which was her first start around two turns and first at 1 1/16 miles. She broke better than she had in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, though she did drift a little bit entering the first turn.
“First time around she drifted into the turn a little bit, but she gets herself into the game in a hurry,” McGaughey said. “She’s progressing. She’s got a race around two turns, we’ll see what happens. I don’t think the distance will be a problem. You can get her in the game and sit and wait on her like she did yesterday.”
In the Gulfstream Oaks, Kathleen O. covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.75 and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. The Kentucky Oaks is run at 1 1/8 miles.
McGaughey said the filly came out of her race fine and on Sunday she left Payson Park for Keeneland, where she will be stabled until a week before the Kentucky Oaks. McGaughey will have a 12-horse string at Keeneland this spring before setting up a stable at Churchill for the summer.
Kathleen O. goes into the Kentucky Oaks with a 4-for-4 record. Among her main rivals will be Echo Zulu, last year’s 2-year-old filly champion who made a successful 3-year-old debut winning the Fair Grounds Oaks narrowly on March 26 and is 5 for 5.
Of Echo Zulu, McGaughey said, “I thought her race was a good race, she had to run hard but she’ll get a lot out of it. I’ll go in there with a we’ll-see-what-we’ve-got [mindset].”