Kiaran McLaughlin to make tough choices on Alpha and It’s Tricky’s next starts
Veteran trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has spots to find for his Godolphin owned stakes runners, and the two most prominent ones with big ambitions this year are Alpha and It’s Tricky, but McLaughlin right now is more concerned about his 3-year-old colt Kentucky
Derby hopeful, Alpha, and the trainer is trying to keep his colt where he has proved himself time and again, Aqueduct.
The Grade 1, $1 million Resorts World Casino New York City Wood Memorial on 7 April, 2012, seems to be on the cards, but Kiaran McLaughlin is keen not to run his colt against Union Rags and El Padrino, as both of them are set to make a big giant leap toward
being in the elite few to be thought of Kentucky Derby winner’s by winning the Wood Grade 1 Florida Derby.
If for some reason Union Rags and El Padrino decide not to run in the Florida Derby, than McLaughlin will point Alpha there.
The Kentucky bred son of Bernardini, out of mare Munnaya by Nijinsky II, Alpha started his 2012 campaign on a winning note, by landing the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct, and he extended his seasonal winning streak when he downed the all important Grade
3 Withers Stakes.
Union Rags nosed out Alpha in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes last year, who was then narrowly beaten by the eventual 2-year-old of the year, Hansen in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but Union Rags bounced back this year by winning the Grade 2 Fountain
of Youth Stakes.
El Padrino on the other hand showed how good he is when he grabbed the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes by a champion like run in the stretch to nose out the runner up and win the race.
The Grade 1 Florida Derby is out of the picture, but McLaughlin is seriously leaning toward the Wood Memorial, where Alpha might meet the 2011 juvenile champion, Hansen.
Kiaran McLaughlin will also have to make a choice for his 4-year-old filly, It’s Tricky, who successfully downed her 2012 debut race, the Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct.
The next start for the Mineshaft filly could be in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park or she could run again at Aqueduct in the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap, which probably looks more likely out of the two.
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