Battle with disease won't hinder trainer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kiaran McLaughlin woke up in the middle of the night in October 1998 with excruciating pain in his neck and shoulders.

The trainer of Kentucky Derby long shot Closing Argument thought he was having a heart attack and drove himself to a hospital.

His heart checked out fine and doctors sent him home with a preliminary diagnosis of a pinched nerve.

Subsequent tests revealed the onset of multiple sclerosis, an incurable and potentially debilitating illness.

"I was scared," McLaughlin said. "I sat in my living room for three weeks and didn't want to do anything. I worried how I would keep the house and provide for my family. I worried about how I would keep a job."

In time, McLaughlin learned to manage the disease. He self-administers a daily injection of a medication that helps control MS.

McLaughlin had a major attack in the spring of 1999 while training horses in Dubai. It blurred his vision and forced him to walk with a cane.

He rebounded from that episode to a point where the only impairment is a slight hitch in his gait.

"I've always had a bright outlook and a good attitude," McLaughlin said. "I've got a family, a wife and two kids to support and I have a good staff."

The staff helps care for the 90 horses in his stable, including Closing Argument. The colt, 30-1 on the Derby morning line, was third in the Blue Grass Stakes.

"He'll be as sharp as he can be," McLaughlin said. "I feel he'll run a great race."

This will be the first Derby runner saddled by the 44-year-old McLaughlin, although he is no stranger to the track or the event. While working as a stablehand, McLaughlin saw his first Derby from atop a Churchill Downs barn in 1977. He also spent seven years as an assistant trainer to D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Derby winner.

THE OLD-FASHIONED TRIAL: The Derby Trial, run one week before the Derby at Churchill Downs, has fallen out of favor with most trainers who want more time between the final prep and the Derby. Ron Ellis will try to buck the trend with Don't Get Mad.

"We're going to try something a little different," Ellis said. "A Derby Trial winner last won the Derby a long time ago but I don't think horses are that much different from then to now."

Five horses captured the Derby Trial and the Derby. Tim Tam was the last to do it in 1958.

Before 1982, the time interval was even tighter with the Derby Trial run the Tuesday before the Derby.