McMahon hoping to make Sir Barton with Excellorator

Trainer Hugh McMahon is hopeful that Excellorator, disqualified from first and placed second in last month’s Federico Tesio, will compete in the $100,000 Sir Barton for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the Preakness undercard May 15.

Excellorator lost a shoe in the paddock prior to his third-place finish in the Private Terms on March 13 at Laurel.

“He ran that race without front shoes and was really foot-sore for a couple of weeks,” McMahon said.

In the Tesio, Excellorator stalked the leaders from the rail, angled three wide turning for home, and was game to fend off The Reds in the waning strides. He was penalized by the stewards for drifting out in the stretch and impeding the runner-up.

“We were impressed with the performance,” McMahon said. “He was a little compromised with his feet in the previous race. We only had two weeks to get him ready, and I would say he was probably 80 percent. I think a lot of it had to do with his courageous heart. As a consequence, he’s still foot-sore after that race because he seems to leave it all out there. I’m trying to get him ready for the Sir Barton, but the same burden I had before, I have now.”

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Excellorator was claimed at Laurel for $62,500 out of a third consecutive victory for New York-based trainer Michael Miceli. McMahon explained the thought processes behind the claim.

“My owner asked me to try and find a horse that we could run in a stake,” McMahon said. “Brittany Russell had run Hello Hot Rod in New York, a Maryland-bred. She won the race and sold him in Kentucky for about $400,000. Observing that horse and looking at the numbers that this horse was getting, I thought that he fit.”

Excellorator is owned by 87-year-old Phyllis Soboczenski’s Philmor Racing Stables.

“She’s a wonderful human being,” McMahon said. “When she was 15 or 16, she had a dream that she wanted to own horses. She put that dream on hold because she wanted to raise a family. She set some money aside for her dream and so she’s a latecomer to the sport. About nine years ago, she met me at Charles Town and we have had a wonderful relationship ever since.”

Soboczenski was recently diagnosed with cancer.

“She got that news two days after the Tesio, and it’s terminal,” McMahon said. “We’re just praying for a miracle.”

The Reds, placed first in the Tesio, is unlikely for the Preakness and Sir Barton, according to trainer John Kimmel.

“We’ve got a couple of different options, including the Belmont and the Ohio Derby,” he said.

Kimmel was impressed with the grit The Reds showed in the Tesio.

“He got squeezed at the start, and the rider and the horse were on different pages going into the first turn,” Kimmel said. “The horse wanted to go and the rider got in his mouth and he’s throwing his head around. Finally, he gets him settled just when everyone else is starting to move forward and he starts falling back again. He obviously got pushed out. I thought he should have been an easy winner and he was lucky to be put up. It was one of those things where probably the best horse didn’t win but actually was awarded the victory by disqualification.”

Kimmel mentioned that The Reds exited the race in good health.

“He came out of it fine,” he said. “He’s a developing 3-year-old, and distance limitations are not a problem.”