McLaughlin's April hotter than July

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Things are going so well for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin this month that he was hoping for a slight change to the racing calendar.

“I want to see if they could move the [Kentucky] Derby to the fourth Saturday in April,” he joked Monday morning at Belmont.

McLaughlin will have to hope his April success carries over to May when he runs Frosted in the Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs. But if it does, look out.

Through the first two weeks of racing in April, McLaughlin has won 12 races from 20 starters, covering 18 races. McLaughlin is 6 for 10 at Keeneland and 5 for 9 at Aqueduct. He began the month with a win at Pimlico.

McLaughlin’s fortunes have been going so well that he even won an allowance race Sunday at Aqueduct with a horse who was on the lead, backed up to fourth, and came again in the final sixteenth to win a five-horse photo. McLaughlin said Monday that some of his help watching the race in his barn office switched the television to the Masters before Easy Living got up to win. About a half-hour earlier, McLaughlin had won a maiden turf race at Keeneland with Robillard.

“It hasn’t been the case usually where April has been that good a month for us,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve been pointing to Keeneland for quite a while. We’ve always been pretty live here.”

Looking at his entrants for Wednesday and Thursday, McLaughlin believes his stable’s good fortune can continue.

In Aqueduct’s second on Wednesday, McLaughlin sends out the first-time starter Whale Rock in a New York-bred maiden race going six furlongs. A son of Mineshaft, he cost $150,000 at auction.

“He’s pretty speedy,” McLaughlin said.

At Keeneland Wednesday, McLaughlin sends out Taghleeb in a second-level allowance race that goes as the third, and Sayaad in a stakes-caliber allowance race that goes as the sixth.

Taghleeb won over the Keeneland course last year and is making his second start off a layoff after running second at Gulfstream on March 7. Sayaad ran third to Wise Dan in last year’s Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland.

On Thursday at Keeneland, McLaughlin sends out Strike Tone in race 4. “I like him a lot,” he said.