McGaughey pointing Radio Days to Boiling Springs at Monmouth
ELMONT, N.Y. - Radio Days was among the 3-year-old fillies nominated to the Mother Goose at Belmont Park on Saturday who were not entered in the race. Trainer Shug McGaughey said he is pointing Radio Days to the $100,000 Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 3.
Previously run on the turf, the Boiling Springs this year will be run on dirt at a mile and 70 yards.
“I want to keep her around two turns and try to win a stakes with her,” McGaughey said.
Radio Days finished second in the Forward Gal at Gulfstream Park and second to Matareya in the Grade 2 Beaumont at Keeneland. Most recently, Radio Days finished third in the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico.
On Tuesday, Radio Days worked a half-mile in 47 seconds, the fastest of 26 breezes at that distance at Belmont Park.
McGaughey said his other top 3-year-old filly, Kathleen O., is still turned out on the farm. She could return to McGaughey the first part of July, but the Hall of Fame trainer is in no rush to get back to the races.
Kathleen O. won her first four starts before finishing fifth, four lengths behind Secret Oath, in the Kentucky Oaks.
McGaughey said if he doesn’t make the Alabama on Aug. 20, he could point Kathleen O to races like the Cotillion at Parx on Sept. 24 and the Grade 3 Comely, a 1 1/8-mile race at Aqueduct run in late November. Kathleen O. won her career debut at Aqueduct before wintering in South Florida and winning three stakes at Gulfstream topped by the Gulfstream Park Oaks.
“Obviously, she likes Gulfstream,” McGaughey, said. “You can place her around there a little bit. If she turns the corner as a 4-year-old, you got a lot of spots.”