Shug McGaughey

Continuing on the heels of a stacked card Friday, Pimlico offers a robust eight-stakes offering Saturday, led by the $1.5 million GI Preakness S. With GI Kentucky Derby winning Mage (Good Magic) looming as the one to beat, the race suffered a notable blow Friday with the defection of Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' First Mission (Street Sense), shaving the field back to seven. Having not only showed a recency in form but also the ability to win at the highest level, none of the chestnut's rivals can really make the...

At this year's GI Preakness S., Shug McGaughey is aiming to win his own version of the Triple Crown. The Hall of Fame trainer won the third leg of the series in 1989, when Easy Goer famously defeated Sunday Silence in the GI Belmont S., and then Orb (Malibu Moon) earned the Kentucky horseman a GI Kentucky Derby score in 2013. This Saturday, McGaughey could claim his final Triple Crown jewel with a promising contender in Perform (Good Magic). On Thursday morning shortly after eight, as Perform walked the Preakness...

Perform (Good Magic) tuned up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. with a half-mile drill in :48.09 (2/42) over the main track at Belmont Park Sunday. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Perform worked just after the renovation break under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, completing his exercise to the outside of his maiden workmate Weyhill Road (Quality Road). McGaughey said the work was just what he hoped to see ahead of the colt's graded stakes debut. "I was very pleased with the way he worked and...

Two Phil's (Hard Spun), a game runner-up in the GI Kentucky Derby, will skip the May 20 GI Preakness S., according to a report from Jim O'Donnell in the Chicago Daily Herald. "Too soon," trainer Larry Rivelli told O'Donnell. "Phil came out of the Derby great. We shipped back to Chicago Sunday, but the Preakness is just 12 days away. That's just too soon." Two Phil's, coming off a win in the Mar. 25 GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, was the only runner close to the hot pace to still be...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Courtlandt Farms' General Jim (Into Mischief) continued his all-conquering sire's fantastic weekend with a game neck victory over Fort Bragg (Tapit) after a stretch-long battle in Saturday's GII Pat Day Mile S. at Churchill Downs. Gilmore (Twirling Candy) finished third. "It was a magnificent win," winning owner Don Adams said. "To win on a day like today is truly special. He's become a nice horse, very special. He's won two in a row now and hopefully we'll see good things down the road. We'll let (trainer) Shug...

Stoneware & Co. will offer a limited number of signed Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby bottles to benefit the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. This year's signed collector's edition will commemorate the 10th anniversary of Orb winning the Run for the Roses and will be signed by his Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey and Eclipse Award-winning jockey Joel Rosario. "The Kentucky Derby is one of the greatest sporting events in the country," said TRF executive director Kelly Armer. "With a captive horse racing audience, we are thrilled to be able to inform...

Talk of the Nation blew away local optional claiming foes last out Feb. 4, and did the same to stakes company here. Off as the chalk breaking from the far outside, the dark bay hopped a bit at the start but was pushed along by Samy Camacho to track from fourth while hung a bit wide. Scrubbed on to assert three deep entering the lane, he seemed to be stuck in neutral for a few strides while figuring out his leads, but as soon as he found his footing he...

Trainer Robert "Robbie" Medina has opened a public stable based out of Lexington, KY and is now accepting new clients. Since April 2020, Medina has served as the general manager and trainer for Blackwood Stables, the state-of-the-art training center near Lexington. At Blackwood, he focused on breaking, training, and rehabilitation for many of the sport's leading owners and trainers. He also ran horses under his own name at Kentucky tracks for a few select clients, including August Dawn Stable's Gun Runner S. winner Play Action Pass (Cairo Prince), who was...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 7th-GP, $84K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6f, 3:07 p.m. Debut filly HOLLYWOODLAND (Quality Road) was a $500,000 KEESEP purchase as a yearling by owner Joseph Allen, who bred and campaigns recent GIII La Prevoyante S. winner Personal Best (Tapit). This filly's dam, Union City, is a sister to MGSW Dixie City, whose own offspring Reef Point (Giant's Causeway) produced MGSW Bubble Rock (More Than Ready). Not to be outdone, Union City is responsible for GII Peter Pan S. hero Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}). Breaking from the...

Charting a consistent if unremarkable course heading into Saturday's GIII Claiborne Swale S. at Gulfstream, Courtlandt Farms' General Jim (Into Mischief) turned things up a notch, exploding from off the pace to collar favored Super Chow (Lord Nelson) late en route to a one-length score. Sent off the 8-5 second choice behind 4-5 choice Super Chow, already a three-time stakes winner, the Shug McGaughey trainee broke awkwardly from his inside draw, but was quickly straightened out by regular pilot Luis Saez as Super Chow ran up to contest the early...

3rd-Gulfstream, $70,000, Msw, 1-22, 3yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.55, fm, neck. ALLAMERICANBEAUTY (f, 3, Into Mischief--Apologize, by Lemon Drop Kid), debuting as the favorite at Aqueduct Dec. 4, finished just off-the-board in the slop that afternoon. Shipping to Shug McGaughey's southern base, the $700,000 KEESEP purchase trying turf, two-turns and Lasix for the first time, passed with flying colors. Racing mid-pack around the clubhouse turn, the 6-1 shot settled just to the outside of King's Secret (GB) (Kingman {GB}). Around the far turn, the pace quickened enough for the bay...

5th-GP, $84k, Msw, 3yo, 6f, 2:09 p.m. ET Missourians Robert and Lawana Low purchased SGT. PEPPER (Uncle Mo) for $1.6 million at the 2021 FTSAUG sale. Bred by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds, he will make his debut sprinting on the dirt with Lasix in South Florida for the Todd Pletcher barn. Sgt. Pepper, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, is a half-brother to GSW Spice Is Nice (Curlin), who fetched $1.05 million from these same connections at the 2018 KEESEP sale. Sgt. Pepper's dam Dame Dorothy (Bernardini), owned and campaigned by Bobby Flay,...