A trainer’s story - Kiaran McLaughlin

Leaving Team Lukas in 1992, he worked for one year as a jock’s agent for Chris Antley but was then given the opportunity to train in Dubai for Sheikh Mohammed and his brother Sheikh Hamdan. For the next 10 years, McLaughlin spent half of the year training in Dubai and the other half tending to the Maktoum horses in New York in America.Following a few years working with trainers John Hennig (now his father-in-law), Tim Muckler and Dave Kassen, Kiaran landed a coveted spot in the powerful stable of D. Wayne Lukas in 1985. He spent the next seven years there where he helped condition some of the best racehorses in the world, including Dynaformer, champion Open Mind and many more.

Throughout his career, McLaughlin has seen many of the world’s top racehorses pass through his shed row. It’s Tricky gave him his first G1 win in the blue silks of Godolphin in 2011 followed by the likes of champion Questing (Hard Spun) and G1 winners Emcee and Alpha (Bernardini), now both Darley stallions. Runners by Sheikh Hamdan have also performed very well for McLaughlin, most notably, Horse of the Year Invasor, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and Jazil, winner of the Belmont Stakes.Even though he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during that period, he continued to split his time between the two countries. He made a permanent return to the States in 2003 after he and his wife, Letty, thought it best for their family to once again make America their home. McLaughlin commented at the time, “My first job in life is to be a parent.” He opened a public stable that year while continuing to train for the Maktoum family.