Kiaran McLaughlin Racing Stable Inc.

Kiaran McLaughlin Racing Stable Inc.

No Travers decision yet on Trappe Shot
Updated - 8/23/2010

August 22, 2010 at 2:55 pm by Tim Wilkin

SARATOGA SPRINGS — One thing we do know is this: the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Trappe Shot will run at Saratoga on Travers Day. One thing we do not know is what race the 3-year-old colt will be running in.

McLaughlin said Sunday morning that no decision has been made yet on whether Trappe Shot will run in the $1 million Travers or the $250,000 King’s Bishop. The Travers is run at 1 1/4 miles; the King’s Bishop is seven furlongs.

“We don’t have to make it yet so we just haven’t,” McLaughlin said on a soggy morning at his barn on the backstretch. “Everything is fine.”

A decision will have to come by Wednesday when the races are drawn. McLaughlin said they will wait to see who is looking towards the Travers. Trappe Shot was last seen running second – beaten four lengths — to Lookin At Lucky in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 1.

The Haskell is 1 1/8 miles.

“We’re trying to handicap the right spot,” McLaughlin said. “He ran great and finished at the end (of the Haskell). So, I don’t think the distance is a big concern although it’s 126 pounds (Trappe Shot carried 118 in the Haskell) and it’s a mile and a quarter. He hasn’t done either.”

Trappe Shot won at seven furlongs at Belmont on June 5, winning by by four furlongs. The Haskell was his first try in a graded stakes race.

“The most important thing we want is a Grade I win,” he said. “That’s the most important thing and Saturday we’re going to try in one spot or the other to get that.”

Either King’s Bishop, Travers next for Trappe Shot
Updated - 8/5/2010

by Phil Janack

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has circled the date for Trappe Shot’s next race, just not the race itself as of Wednesday.

Runner-up to champion Lookin At Lucky in the $1,010,000 IZOD Haskell Invitational (G1) at Monmouth Park on Sunday, Trappe Shot is being pointed to either the $1-million Shadwell Travers Stakes (G1) or the $250,000 King’s Bishop Stakes (G1) on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course.

“These are both Grade 1, very important races for a three-year-old to win,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a jump ball as far as which one’s more important as far as the future of the horse as a stallion. It’s very close. Obviously, the purse is quite a bit more in the Travers, but they’re both very important races. It’s nice that we’re able to consider both and we’re pretty live in both.”

Highlighting Saratoga’s 40-day summer meet, the Travers is run at 1¼ miles but will include Preakness Stakes (G1) and Haskell winner Lookin At Lucky, who has returned to California for trainer Bob Baffert. The King’s Bishop is run at seven furlongs.

“We ran a great race against a champion two-year-old and probably champion three-year-old in Lookin At Lucky,” said McLaughlin, who trains Trappe Shot for owner Mill House. “It’s a better situation for all three-year-olds that we don’t have to face him, but we will talk to all the connections on which race to go next. He came out of it in great shape; we’re happy about that.”

A chestnut son of Tapit, Trappe Shot missed the Triple Crown races with an ankle injury. He came back off a nearly three-month layoff to beat older horses in a seven-furlong allowance at Belmont Park in June and win streak to four races on July 10 in the Long Branch at Monmouth Park.

Unable to find room inside approaching the Haskell stretch, Trappe Shot swung four wide and came running at Lookin At Lucky, passing Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Super Saver and finished second, beaten four lengths.

“We didn’t break real sharp and we were forced a little bit wider than we wanted,” McLaughlin said. “Had we broken a little bit better and held Lookin At Lucky in, it might have been a different outcome. Maybe he would have only beat us two lengths. He had a great day and was very impressive.”

McLaughlin also said stakes winner Uptowncharlybrown, who was scratched the morning of the Haskell with a fever, was back at Belmont.

“He’s doing a little better now,” he said. “His temperature is back down and we’re just monitoring him. We just have to see how it goes. He’s day-to-day.”