They just had to put one of the hopeful probables down. It was McLaughlin's horse Rajjaas. RIP.
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/tod...66139&subsec=2
Hopeful candidate Rajjaas euthanized
Promising two-year-old colt Rajjaas was euthanized on Tuesday after breaking a leg in a workout at Saratoga Race Course.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and owner-breeder Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum's Shadwell Stable were considering the Elusive Quality colt out of Ridaa, by Seattle Slew, for the Hopeful Stakes (G1) on September 4 at Saratoga.
In his only start, Rajjaas won a 5 ½-furlong maiden race by 1 ¼ lengths on August 9 at Saratoga.
"Kiaran was going to work him three-eighths so we could have him ready should we decide to run him [in the Hopeful], but it didn't quite work out," Shadwell Vice President Rick Nichols said. "When you do have a nice one, it's special, and that's what hurts so bad. One, he was a homebred, and two, he had so much potential. To get something good like that and then to lose it, it really hurts."
Sanford Stakes (G2) winner Scat Daddy and Bashford Manor Stakes (G3) winner Circular Quay are expected for the Hopeful, along with Irish Ace, Pegasus Wind, and Unbridled Express. Pegasus Wind breezed five furlongs in 1:00.27 on Wednesday on a sloppy Oklahoma track.—Jeff Lowe