Hall of Fame Trainer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey, III eyes Man o’War Stakes after Belmont wins
The American Hall of Famer, Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey III, is a thoroughbred horse trainer. He was born in Kentucky, Lexington on 6 January 1951.
Shug McGaughey took up his role as a trainer in 1979 and has gone on to win a staggering 240 graded stakes races. His career took an upward curve when he was hired by Ogden Phipps in 1986 and was asked to train his stable of horses.
Within two years Shug McGaughey earned himself a big one when he won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 1988.
The veteran trainer provided Phipps’s racing stable with many outstanding accomplishments and converted their horses into champion horses. One such champion was Persistently, a five year old chestnut mare, who entered the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Invitational
Stakes, on 29 August 2010, to take on Horse of The Year, Rachel Alexandra.
The 1 mile 2 furlong event also included Life At Ten, and both Rachel Alexandra and Life At Ten were sent off as favourites to win the race. Pre-race predictions were beginning to manifest as the first half belonged to both fillies.
Rachel Alexandra left Life At Ten behind but jockey Alan Garcia riding Persistently kept the trail warm, and, fizzed past the Horse of The Year to defeat her by a length. The Saratoga meet proved to be a goldmine for the Hall of Fame trainer, as four Phipps
horses went on to win the race.
Shug McGaughey has had a very successful Breeders’ Cup Record with 9 wins out of 53 starts, 9 times second, and, twice third with huge earnings of $9,145,560. Shug McGaughey has won two Breeders’ Cup races in one day, twice.
In 1989, Dancing Spree went on to win the Breeders’ Cup sprint and on the same day Rhythm landed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, both trained by Shug McGaughey.
Shug repeated history in 1995 when he did the same with two different horses. My Flag went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Inside Information the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Cup, also known as Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Now, Shug McGaughey is having another excellent season and sitting pretty at Belmont Park with two wins already on 4 July 2011, hoping to continue his hot streak with Boisterous, a four-year old horse.
The son of Distorted Humour will be looking to deliver his trainer another win in the successful spring/summer meet, and he looks likely to do it too because he is coming off four wins out of five starts.
Shug McGaughey is eyeing the Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes and a tough competition awaits him in the shape of Gio Ponti and Mission Approved.
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