Nashua, Tempted kick-start meet
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin hopes to rinse the taste of a bad Breeders’ Cup out of his mouth Wednesday when he sends out the promising Mohaymen in the Grade 2, $200,000 Nashua, one of two stakes for juveniles on opening day at Aqueduct.
The Nashua, at one mile, shares top billing with the Grade 3, $200,000 Tempted Stakes for juvenile fillies, also at a mile. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern, with the Nashua scheduled as the eighth race and the Tempted as the third.
McLaughlin went winless with four Breeders’ Cup runners at Keeneland, including an 11th-place finish by the favored Wedding Toast in the Distaff, a fourth from the favored Cavorting in the Filly and Mare Sprint, and a seventh-place finish from Frosted in the $5 million Classic.
“We were expecting a lot more,” McLaughlin said Monday. “We’re licking our wounds, and we’ll move on.”
Mohaymen, a son of Tapit bought for $2.2 million as a yearling by Shadwell Stable, won his debut by a half-length at Belmont on Sept. 19, fending off a race-long challenge from Seymourdini, a $900,000 Bernardini colt. King Kranz was another neck back in third. Seymourdini came back to run second last week in a maiden race, while King Kranz came back to run second to the McLaughlin-trained Annual Report in the Grade 2 Futurity.
“Hopefully, it was a very good maiden race,” McLaughlin said. “We were on the lead, got passed, and came back on. He didn’t have dirt in his face.”
Mohaymen will break from post 7 in the eight-horse field on Wednesday, which McLaughlin hopes will result in his colt keeping clear of dirt in his face again.
“This is only his second start, and there are some experienced colts in there,” said McLaughlin, who has won three of the last nine runnings of the Nashua. “Breaking from the outside, in the clear, hopefully we break well, and we might not get a lot of dirt in our face again. Very talented colt. We’ve been pointing to this spot. We think he wants to stretch out.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Mohaymen. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is 14-6-3-2 with a $2.34 ROI over the past five years going sprint to route on dirt in the second career start following a winning debut. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Sunny Ridge, Sail Ahoy, and Magna Light finished second, fourth, and seventh in the Grade 1 Champagne, a one-turn-mile race run in the slop at Belmont on Oct. 3.
Sunny Ridge had already proven himself on a fast track by winning the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park on Sept. 6. He will break from the rail with Jose Lezcano aboard.
Sail Ahoy, trained by Shug McGaughey, won a one-mile maiden race at Belmont in September. Sail Ahoy closed from last in the Champagne, which was won by Greenpointcrusader.
“The winner freaked over it,” McGaughey said of the sloppy track. “We only got beat 2 1/2 lengths for second.”
Regarding the Nashua, McGaughey said: “There is some speed in there. They’re going to be going.”
Magna Light could supply some of that speed. He finished first in the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga after setting the pace, then veering out and causing interference when he veered back in. Magna Light finished second after setting the pace in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga. His connections experimented with taking him back in the Champagne, a strategy that trainer Rudy Rodriguez has said was a mistake.
Completing the field in the Nashua are Jay’s Way, River Dell, Pilot House, and Flexibility.
Welcoming welcomes distance
After two losses sprinting to start her career, Welcoming found success doing what she was bred to do – go a distance of ground. Making her third start, Welcoming won a one-mile maiden race at Belmont Park last month.
On Wednesday, Welcoming once again will get the chance to run a mile when she meets five opponents in the Tempted Stakes. Welcoming, trained by Christophe Clement, is by Tapit, and the female family produced classic winners A.P. Indy and Summer Squall. Joel Rosario rides Welcoming from post 2.
Big World also lost her first two starts, then won a seven-furlong race at Saratoga on Sept. 6. That she has not run since is by design, according to trainer Tony Dutrow, who raced her three times during the summer.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Big World. Trainer Tony Dutrow is 31-10-5-5 with a $2.92 ROI over the past five years with juveniles going sprint to route on dirt. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
“There were no problems with her, I just wanted to give her a little bit of a break after Saratoga,” Dutrow said. “She’s doing fantastic. I think a one-turn mile gives her a chance.”
Completing the field are Hi Holiday, the winner of the Sorority Stakes at Monmouth; Flora Dora, the winner of the My Dear Girl Stakes at Gulfstream; Banree; and Disco Rose.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Banree. Trainer Wesley Ward is 16-0-1-0 over the past five years in dirt route graded stakes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan