Mohaymen ‘Perfect’ Following Fountain of Youth, Cathryn Sophia ‘Awesome’ after Davona Dale

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – As the wins and credentials continue to pile up, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin finds himself running out of ways to describe Shadwell Stable’s undefeated Triple Crown contender Mohaymen.

The well-mannered son of Tapit furthered his reputation as the leading 3-year-old prospect on the East Coast in the $400,000 Xpressbet.com Fountain of Youth (G2) Saturday at Gulfstream Park, emerging from his 2 ¼-length victory in good order.

“He came out of it perfect, no issues, and ate up. Everything is great,” McLaughlin said. “It’s all going great, and it’s a lot of fun. It was just another great day.”

It was the fifth consecutive win for Mohaymen and fourth straight in a Grade 2 stakes, the last three of them around two turns, setting the stage for a showdown with Nyquist, the unbeaten juvenile male champion of 2015, in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1) April 2 at Gulfstream.

Based in California, Nyquist opened his sophomore campaign winning the seven-furlong San Vicente (G2) Feb. 15. Purchased out of Fasig-Tipton’s Florida sale last winter at Gulfstream, he is eligible for a $1 million bonus by winning the Florida Derby.

“Obviously it will be a tough test for both of them. Speaking for our horse, moving on you’re going to face different horses and tough horses and he’s probably the toughest one out there right now. We’d prefer to wait until May 7^th, but we can’t blame them for coming with the bonus,” McLaughlin said. “It is what it is. It’s hard to adjust or worry about it, either them or us. They have a very talented horse and we do, too, but we’re already here. This is home for us. This was our plan from last year, basically.”

Mohaymen broke from outside post six in the Fountain of Youth, where regular rider Junior Alvarado had to steer clear of bumping inside of him on the first turn and trailed early before making a middle move to get into contention. After settling down the backstretch, they reeled in undefeated but lightly raced Zulu at the quarter pole and drew off willingly down the stretch.

“He impressed me because he was fifth around the first turn, back a little ways, and a little wide on both turns but that was because of the post position and we were happy to stay out of trouble,” McLaughlin said. “Junior rode him great. Again, he did it the right way. He eased him up late, which was nice, and we have five weeks to the Florida Derby. It’s a mile and an eighth which he already won at, so that’s not an issue.”

Following the race Mohaymen returned to Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County, where he will walk for three days before returning to the track. McLaughlin said Mohaymen will work two or three times in the weeks leading up to the Florida Derby.

“We had a plan, and sometimes you have to adjust your plans but so far we haven’t had to,” he said. “We use similar words every time. He’s just a special colt that does everything right and has such a great mind. Nothing seems to upset him. It makes our jobs easier.”

Undefeated Cathryn Sophia ‘Awesome’ after Davona Dale Dazzler
Trainer John Servis reported Sunday morning that Cathryn Sophia exited her dazzling seven-length romp in Saturday’s $200,000 Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream Park in fine form.

“Cathryn’s awesome,” Servis said. “She came out of the race super and licked the tub.”

Cash is King LLC’s daughter of Street Boss stalked the early leaders before making a three-wide sweep into the stretch and drawing off under a hand ride to score by seven lengths. The Maryland-bred filly has won all four of her career starts under hand rides by a combined  41 ½ lengths.

“Like I said [Saturday], I thought it was her best race yet. She did everything right.,” Servis said. “She broke good; she switched her leads good; she wasn’t fooling around with her leads or wandering. She did everything professional. She just throws down those 12s like its nothing.”

Servis was also impressed with the enthusiastic reception Cathryn Sophia received from the crowd while returning to the winner’s circle.

“That was awesome,” he said. “It’s exciting. It’s exciting to see that in the game. We don’t see enough of that.”

The $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) on Florida Derby Day, April 2, could be next for the undefeated filly.

“It’s on the list. We’re going to give her some time out of the race and she how she is. I’ve nominated her for a few spots,” Servis said. “If I don’t think the Oaks fits, then we’ll do something else, but right now, it’s certainly the race we’re considering.”

Herecomesthebride (G3) Winner Catch a Glimpse Continues to Impress Casse
Gary Barber, Michael James Ambler and Windways Farm’s Catch a Glimpse was doing well the morning after opening her 3-year-old season with a 2 ½-length victory the $150,000 Herecomesthebride (G3) Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

It was the fourth straight win for the chestnut daughter of City Zip, making her first start since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) Oct. 30 at Keeneland. Trained by Mark Casse, she is a Sovereign Award finalist for Canada’s champion 2-year-old filly of 2015.

“She’s very good this morning. I thought she was impressive. I’d read that some people thought she may not be cranked up for the race but we felt like she was ready and ready to win. We weren’t going to bring back the Breeders’ Cup winner and let her need a race,” Casse said. “It was kind of like someone saying Tepin might need a race. She’s the queen of the ball right now, and it wouldn’t be right of us to bring her back and not have her ready to win. That’s kind of the way I felt with Catch a Glimpse.”

Catch a Glimpse stalked pacesetter Vieja Luna racing three wide under regular rider Florent Geroux before moving up to take command at the five-sixteenths pole. She came widely around the far turn but dug in after straightening for home and pulled clear.

“The move she made at the top of the lane, I saw where [son and assistant trainer] Norman said she maybe was going too fast. Maybe that was it; I thought she just lost focus for a second. If you noticed her ears went up like, ‘Oh,’ as soon as she made the lead. Of course Flo tapped her on the shoulder a couple of times and she took off,” Casse said. “I was very proud of Catch a Glimpse yesterday. She can be a little nervous and everything. Normally we just ship down the morning of the race but we did ship her down a few days ahead of time and let her settle in, and we schooled her a few times. She was very professional.”

Casse compared Catch a Glimpse to her 5-year-old stablemate Tepin, the multiple Grade 1-winning Eclipse Award champion grass mare of 2015 who beat males in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).

“She reminds me a lot of Tepin, though Tepin at this point in her career wasn’t as talented as Catch a Glimpse. Tepin took a while to really get into the groove and become what she’s become,” Casse said. “Where I draw the comparison is when you ask either one of those fillies, they can gallop along at a slow pace which not a lot of horses can do, and then when you ask them to quicken it’s like pushing the accelerator. They look nothing alike. Catch a Glimpse is taller and leaner where she looks more like a wide receiver. Tepin looks more like a big, strong running back.”

Casse said he plans to point for the $125,000 Appalachian (G3) April 14 at Keeneland as the likely next start for Catch a Glimpse.

“Early on in the year there isn’t a whole lot for 3-year-old fillies so our goal will be to try to keep her focused and keep her doing well with hopes of having her ready for the bigger races as the spring and summer come about,” he said.

Source: Gulfstream Park