Mohaymen seeks to extend McLaughlin's hot hand in Jim Dandy
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Kiaran McLaughlin has enjoyed a sensational start to this Saratoga meet, and he hasn’t even brought out his heavily artillery yet.
That happens Saturday when McLaughlin sends out onetime 3-year-old male division leader Mohaymen against Belmont Stakes winner Creator and four others in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes, going 1 1/8 miles, at Saratoga.
The Jim Dandy and Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park are the two major stepping-stones to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes here on Aug. 27.
Mohaymen has not been out since running fourth behind Nyquist, Exaggerator, and Gun Runner in the Kentucky Derby on May 7. That trio was entered in the Haskell, leaving Mohaymen as the 9-5 favorite on track linemaker Travis Stone’s Jim Dandy morning line.
It was by design that Mohaymen has not run since the Derby. McLaughlin said the Preakness, back in two weeks, was too soon to run Mohaymen, and the Belmont Stakes, at 1 1/2 miles, was too far.
“Right away, you’re to here,” McLaughlin said, referring to the Jim Dandy-Travers scenario. “He went home [to Shadwell Farm], got checked out, got a clean bill of health, hung out there for three weeks, and he came up here.”
Mohaymen, a son of Tapit, is a light-framed horse, so McLaughlin has tried to slow down his gallops to keep him from losing weight. Mohaymen does have a solid series of workouts, many of them on the synthetic surface at the Greentree facility adjacent to Saratoga. Many of McLaughlin’s six winners in the first four days of the meet have trained at Greentree and run dynamite over Saratoga’s main track.
“It’s a true prep, but sometimes our horses are more ready than we think off a layoff, and they run better than we think,” McLaughlin said.
Mohaymen will break from post 3 under Junior Alvarado. He figures to sit a stalking trip behind the maiden Laoban and Destin, who pressed the pace in the Belmont Stakes, took the lead turning for home, and just got nailed on the wire by Creator.
Destin, a son of Giant’s Causeway who ran sixth in the Kentucky Derby, looks to give trainer Todd Pletcher his sixth victory in the Jim Dandy.
“I thought his breezes since the Belmont have been even better than the way he was training going into the Belmont,” Pletcher said. “I think he’s trending forward.”
Destin, owned by Twin Creeks Racing and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, will break from post 4 under Javier Castellano.
Creator, trained by Steve Asmussen for WinStar Farm, won the Arkansas Derby and the Belmont Stakes, sandwiched around a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Asmussen said the primary goal for Creator this summer is the Travers, and the Jim Dandy should be a useful way to get there.
“Expecting a good race from him here, also knowing the Travers is his major target for the summer,” Asmussen said.
Governor Malibu, fourth in the Belmont, and Race Me Home, second in the Easy Goer Stakes, complete the field.
The Jim Dandy goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 1 p.m. Eastern and includes the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt for older male sprinters, the Grade 2 Amsterdam for 3-year-old sprinters, and the Grade 2 Bowling Green Handicap for older males on turf.
Jim Dandy, Race 10
Key Contenders
Mohaymen, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 96-80-95Formulator Fact:
Returns from a 12-week layoff for a red-hot trainer who has gone 4 for 11 in graded stakes races over the last year with horses returning from layoffs of 60 to 180 days.
◗ Won the Grade 2 Holy Bull at 1 1/16 miles off a 63-day layoff.
◗ Five horses have come out of the Kentucky Derby to win their next start.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 3 Mohaymen. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 18-6-4-3 with a $2.76 ROI over the past five years in dirt route graded stakes at Saratoga. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Destin, by Giant’s Causeway
Last 3 Beyers: 99-93-100
◗ Ran too good to lose in the Belmont Stakes, when stalking the pacesetting Gettysburg and just being run down late by Creator.
◗ Has come back and trained better than ever, according to Pletcher.
◗ Won the Sam F. Davis Stakes and the Tampa Bay Derby from a stalking position before getting out of position with a poor start when sixth in the Kentucky Derby.
Creator, by Tapit
Last 3 Beyers: 99-76-96
◗ May not get the rapid pace he did when he won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby back in April.
◗ Asmussen wouldn’t be surprised to see him a bit closer to the pace than usual.
“I do expect him to be a little closer than he was earlier in the year simply due to how confident he is,” Asmussen said.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Creator. Trainer Steve Asmussen is 9-0-1-3 over the past five years in route stakes races at Saratoga. – Mike Hogan