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Kiaran McLaughlin Racing Stable
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Kiaran McLaughlin may be a world traveler but he was raised in the heart of horse country. A native of Lexington, he attended the University of Kentucky for a year before replacing the classroom for the shedrow.
He worked under trainers James Burchell, John Hennig (later to become his father-in-law), David Kassen and Tim Muckler before joining D. Wayne Lukas’ high-profile operation. There he worked with champion Open Mind as well as top-class horses Dynaformer, Carson City and Salt Lake.
After a stint as a jock’s agent (for Chris Antley), he returned to training, most notably in the United Arab Emirates, where he led all trainers in Dubai three times. It’s no surprise that McLaughlin’s horses have won races in the U.S, Canada, Japan and Dubai.
McLaughlin has campaigned stakeswinners Allied Forces, Atraf, Bending Strings, Binya, Dumaani, Elhayq, Ibn Al Haitham, Intidab, Kayrawan, Lunar Sovereign, Mustanfar, Randaroo, Roar Emotion, Sahm, Seattle Fitz, Spindrift, Soviet Line, Thunder Touch, Trademark and Volga.
In 2006 McLaughlin had a banner year while winning major stakes races up and down the east coast. When it was all said and done McLaughlin was part of four Eclipse Award nominees in 2006; Henny Hughes for Champion Sprinter, Invasor for Horse of the Year and Older Male Handicap Horse, and also the Eclipse Award for the Nation’s Outstanding Trainer (in which he ultimately finished second).
While there is no sure thing in horse racing, Invasor was all but that when the envelopes were being opened at the Eclipse Awards in January. He was a runaway winner as Horse of the Year and Older Male Handicap Horse; much the same way he won his races in 2006. Starting with the Pimlico Special Handicap in May, Invasor went on a Grade I role to close out his campaign. He won Belmont’s Grade I Suburban Handicap in July, Saratoga’s historic Whitney Handicap in August, and closed out his championship campaign with a convincing win in the Grade I, 5 million dollar Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November. In a remarkable season that saw him earn $3,790,000 for Shadwell Stable, Invasor won four of the most important and prestigious handicap races on the racing calender.
Showing no signs of slowing down, he opened his five-year-old season with an easy score in Gulfstream Park’s Grade I Donn Handicap. He staked his claim as one of the greatest horses in recent memory when he won the Grade I, 6 million dollar Dubai World Cup, avenging the only loss of his career in the process. All told, Invasor is now 11-for-12 lifetime with earnings of over $8,100,000; which ranks him fourth all-time in North America. With continued success he could end his racing career as the all-time leading money earner.
Henny Hughes made his debut for Team McLaughlin in the Grade III Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 1st. After running 6 furlongs in 1:08.26 (and winning by 10) without breaking a sweat it was quite evident he was one of the nation’s premier sprinters. Powerful scores followed Grade I King’s Bishop at Saratoga and the Grade I Vosburgh at Belmont against older horses. A disappointing finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint did little to tarnish the son of Hennessey’s reputation. He finished third in the Eclipse voting and now stands stud duty at Darley in Lexington.
Jazil made headlines of his own in 2006, becoming McLaughlin’s first Classic winner when he took the Belmont Stakes in June. A three-year-old son of Seeking the Gold, he also finished second in the Grade I Wood Memorial and fourth (in a dead-heat) in the Kentucky Derby. Also owned by Shadwell, Jazil remains in training and has run second in three starts this season.
Flashy Bull is the newest Grade I-winner trained by McLaughlin, after he won the $829,500 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 16th. After running in the Kentucky Derby in 2006 the four-year-old son of Holy Bull made his return trip to Churchill Downs a winning one, and looks to be a major player in the older handicap ranks for the remeainder of 2007.
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Kiaran McLaughlin
Birthdate: Nov. 15, 1960
Birthplace: Lexington, Ky.
Residence: Garden City, N.Y.
Family: wife, Letty; daughter, Erin; son, Ryan.
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“I miss Dubai but it’s nice to be here with my family and with a barn full of good horses.”
Kiaran McLaughlin couldn’t have summed up his career – his life – any better. A native of Lexington, Ky., McLaughlin has trained horses around the world and now he’s content – and thriving – on the east coast.
McLaughlin spent most of his career splitting time between Dubai and the US, working for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum of Darley Stable and his brother Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum. In 2003, he chose to stay here for good. It’s paid off. With a stable rotating between New York, Florida and Kentucky, McLaughlin has gradually worked his way into the top echelon of the sport. By June, 2005, his horses had earned over $2.3 million, good for 13th in the national trainer’s standings.
In May, 2005, McLaughlin almost pulled off one of the greatest upsets in American racing history. Closing Argument, at 71-1, put his head in front in the Kentucky Derby but ultimately finished second. As Kiaran’s brother and assistant, Neil, put it, “We’re the happiest second-place finishers in the world.”
With loyal owners, dedicated help and as McLaughlin says, “A barn full of good horses,” perhaps next year the stable can one-up this year’s performance.
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 Neal McLaughlin (Brother and Assistant Trainer to Kiaran)
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Neil McLaughlin graduated from the University of Kentucky and got a job at Lexmark climbing the corporate ladder and paying off student loans. That didn’t last long, it was actually a call from Kiaran that pulled Neil off that ladder and back into the barn.
"Kiaran got offered the job in Dubai so I called my friend Mark Taylor who was over there," Neil said. "I called Kiaran and said, ’You need to take the job and you need to take me with you.’ I was done with that office job, I needed to get back with the horses. I got out of debt in six months and I’ve never looked back."
Neil packed two suit cases, sold everything he had and was on his way to Dubai with his brother. That was 1993.
Since then, Neil and Kiaran have enjoyed amazing afternoons, including, Key Of Luck’s romp in the Dubai Duty-Free in 1996, Dumaani’s Keeneland Breeders’ Cup wins in 1995 and 1996, Closing Argument’s runner-up in the 2005 Kentucky Derby and Henny Hugh’s tough second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in 2005.
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