Contenders

Claude McGaughey III

Claude "Shug" McGaughey, a Lexington, KY native, is a backside veteran who dropped out of the University of Mississippi to pursue his dreams of training horses. After several years as an groom/assistant, he began training on his own in 1979, and became the private trainer for the Phipps family, still his main client, in 1985. One of the outstanding trainers in the last quarter century, McGaughey won the Eclipse Award in 1988, saddling stakes winners Easy Goer and the unforgettable Personal Ensign to a Breeders' Cup Distaff win. He has won nine Breeders' Cup races, led by two-time Mile winner Lure. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame in 2004 and has trained nine champions to date. He won the 1993 Kentucky Oaks with Dispute.

Mike Smith

A native of Roswell, New Mexico, Smith was introduced to racing by his uncle, who trained horses, and his father, who rode for a short time in Arizona. He started riding races in New Mexico at age 11 and took out his license when he was 16. He was the leading rider in the country in 1994 with 316 wins, and he has won numerous accolades including the Eclipse Award twice, the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award and the Venezia Award. After eleven tries, Smith won his first Derby aboard 50-1 longshot Giacomo in 2005. Smith has teamed up with McGaughey for some of his best mounts including Lure and Inside Information; as well as other Grade One winners Unbridled's Song, Prairie Bayou and Cherokee Run. Smith has never won the Kentucky Oaks.

Phipps Stable

The Phipps Stable is currently run by Ogden "Dinny" Mills Phipps as the third generation of the family to run the famed stable started by Mrs. Henry Carnegie (nee Phipps). The current patriarch is the Director of Bessemer Securities, the sponsor of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Dinny won the Eclipse Award of Merit in 1978, and is the Chairman of the Jockey Club and on the board of the Breeders' Cup. The family has bred or raced a seemingly endless list of top-class horses, headed by Personal Ensign. Phipps and McGaughey teamed up 1993 to take the Kentucky Oaks with Dispute.

Phipps Stable (KY)

The Phipps Stable is currently run by Ogden "Dinny" Mills Phipps as the third generation of the family to run the famed stable started by Mrs. Henry Carnegie (nee Phipps). The current patriarch is the Director of Bessemer Securities, the sponsor of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Dinny won the Eclipse Award of Merit in 1978, and is the Chairman of the Jockey Club and on the board of the Breeders' Cup. The family has bred or raced a seemingly endless list of top-class horses, headed by Personal Ensign. Phipps and McGaughey teamed up 1993 to take the Kentucky Oaks with Dispute.

The impeccably bred Boca Grande is by 1992 Horse of the Year and champion A.P. Indy, a son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew and the leading sire in North America in 2003 and 2006. His 95 stakes winners to date include 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, as well as champion Tempera, likely champion Bernardini, Grade I winner Golden Missile; millionaire Symboli Indy; Grade I winners Aptitude and Secret Status (2000 Kentucky Oaks) and Grade II winners Suave and Lu Ravi. A 2000 Racing Hall of Fame inductee, A.P. Indy won eight of eleven starts, including the 1992 Belmont (GI) and Breeders' Cup Classic (GI) while on his way to that year's championship honors. He was the morning line favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but was scratched the morning of the race due to a hoof injury. He currently stands stud at Will Farish's Lane's End Farm. A.P. Indy also has a very prominent female family. His dam, Weekend Surprise, was a multiple graded stakes winner and produced nine winners as a broodmare, including Summer Squall, winner of the Preakness (GI), Welcome Surprise, winner of the Dogwood (GIII), and stakes placed horses Honor Grades and Weekend In Seattle.

As if her sire's influence isn't potent enough, Boca Grande boasts one of the strongest female pedigrees of her generation. Her dam, Country Hideaway, also bred and campaigned by the Phipps family, won ten of 21 starts, including four graded stakes, all on the ultra-tough New York circuit. She also placed in seven other graded events, racking up $762,568 in earnings. Besides Boca Grande, Country Hideaway has one other foal to race, the maiden winner El Coyote, also by A.P. Indy. Country Hideaway is a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Distaff (GI) winner Pleasant Home. Their unraced dam, Our Country Place, is a half-sister to Sky Beauty, one of the best distaff performers of the 1990s. Over four years of remarkable performances, Sky Beauty won 13 graded races and earned over $1.3 million.

Coming Oaks Week.