Kiaran P. McLaughlin (born November 15, 1960, in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...
) is an American
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are co ...
racehorse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
best known for training 2006
Horse of the Year Invasor.
Background
McLaughlin was born in an area of the country where
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
and
breeding is preeminent. One of his childhood friends was the son of trainer James Burchell and his first job was as a hotwalker.
He was a student at the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state' ...
for a year before he decided focus on pursuing a career in the
Thoroughbred horse racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
industry. He spent close to three years as an assistant for various trainers before going to work for
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer,
D. Wayne Lukas in 1985. In 1992 he became the agent for jockey
Chris Antley
Christopher Wiley Antley (January 6, 1966 – December 2, 2000) was an American National Champion and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey.
Biography
He was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and grew up in Elloree, South Carolina. He left school at ...
, a job he held until November 1993 when he signed on as the trainer for
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. ...
in
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. He was leading trainer in Dubai three times and has campaigned multiple graded stakes winners.
In 1998, Kiaran McLaughlin was diagnosed with
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. Thi ...
.
Kiaran McLaughlin, his wife and their two children currently reside in
Garden City on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* ...
. He is famously quoted for saying: "My first job in life is to be a parent."
Kiaran's eldest daughter, Rachel, is currently the thoroughbred racing analyst at Indiana Downs
Career
For ten years, Kiaran McLaughlin spent half of each year working in Dubai and half in the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
area. In both locations he trained horses for Sheikh Mohammed and his brother,
Sheikh Hamdan. He was the leading trainer at Dubai's
Nad Al Sheba Racecourse on three occasions: 1994–95, 1995–96 and 2002–2003. In 1995, he shipped Dumaani to Japan and won the $1.5 million Keio Hai Spring Cup at Tokyo Racecourse at odds of 56–1.
McLaughlin returned to the U.S. permanently in 2003 and opened a public stable in New York. Among his clients are Sheikh Mohammed's
Godolphin Racing and Sheikh Hamden's
Shadwell Racing
Shadwell Racing is the Thoroughbred horse racing operations of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Introduced to Thoroughbred flat racing while a student in the United Kingdom, Sheikh Hamdan estab ...
. McLaughlin won his first Grade I race in 2003 with Lunar Sovereign in the
Man o' War Stakes
The Man o' War Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses aged four-years-old and older. It is run over a distance of one and three-eighth miles on turf and is scheduled annually for early May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New ...
.
In 2006, he trained Shadwell's colt
Jazil, who won the
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over 1.5 miles (2,400 m). Colts and geldings carry a weight of ; fillies carry . The race, nicknamed ...
, and had enormous success with
Invasor, Shadwell's newly acquired four-year-old
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
colt. Invasor won several
Grade I
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
races in the U.S. including the
Breeders' Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late Octobe ...
, for which he earned
U.S. Horse of the Year honors and the number 1
World Thoroughbred Racehorse Ranking. McLaughlin's 2006 season earned him the
New York Turf Writers Association (NYTWA) C.V. Whitney Achievement Award and a share of the Red Smith "Good Guy" Award with fellow trainer
Tom Albertrani.
In March 2007, Invasor won the world's richest horse race, the
Dubai World Cup
The Dubai World Cup (Arabic: كأس دبي العالمي) is a Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1996 and contested at the Meydan Racecourse (Arabic: ميدان) which in Arabic suggests a place whe ...
with Invasor. Also in 2007, McLaughlin trained
Lahudood to victories in the
Flower Bowl Invitational and the
Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, for which she earned the
Eclipse Award for Outstanding Turf Mare.
On March 12, 2012, McLaughlin earned his 1,000th North American career win at
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack located within New York City limits. Its racing ...
with Que Posse. Later that year at
Saratoga, McLaughlin scored Grade I victories with Emcee in the
Forego Stakes, Alpha in the
Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Mid-Summer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds according to internation ...
and
Questing in both the
Coaching Club American Oaks
The Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year-old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $500,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course in ...
and
Alabama Stakes
The Alabama Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race open to three-year-old fillies. Inaugurated in 1872, the Grade I race is run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the dirt track at Saratoga Race Course. Held in mid August, it c ...
. Questing would be named
champion three-year-old filly.
In 2015, McLaughlin trained Frosted, owned by his oldest client Sheikh Mohammed, to victories in the
Wood Memorial
The Wood Memorial Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. It is run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs) on dirt. The Wood Memorial ...
and
Pennsylvania Derby, also finishing second to American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes. The following year, Frosted won the Met Mile at Belmont and the Whitney in Saratoga.
The ''
Daily Racing Form
The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of r ...
'' reported in March 2020 that McLaughlin, who had ended his training operations in New York a few months prior, would stop training horses in April and become a jockey agent once again, representing Luis Saez.
Year-End Rankings
References
Kiaran McLaughlin's Official BlogKiaran McLaughlin at the NTRAKiaran McLaughlin Racing Stable official websiteKiaran McLaughlin at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York City Chapter
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Kiaran
1960 births
Living people
People with multiple sclerosis
Horse trainers from Lexington, Kentucky
American horse trainers