{"id":22237,"date":"2025-07-25T07:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T07:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/22237\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T07:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T07:38:10","slug":"journalism-back-on-the-west-coast-all-options-on-the-table-for-next-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/22237\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalism Back On The West Coast; All Options ‘On The Table’ For Next Start"},"content":{"rendered":"

Journalism Back On The West Coast; All Options ‘On The Table’ For Next Start<\/a> originally appeared on Paulick Report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With his latest venture to the East Coast a winning one, Journalism is back home, arriving at trainer Michael McCarthy\u2019s barn at Del Mar Tuesday evening. Now it\u2019s a waiting game as the colt recuperates from his latest trip and the racing world awaits a decision on where he will run next.<\/p>\n

He took a spin around the main track Thursday morning, stretching his legs a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook\u2019s like he\u2019s doing very well,\u201d McCarthy reports. \u201cNo plans yet. Just keeping everything on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it\u2019s business\u2026almost as usual for his conditioner.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The first half of 2025 has been anything but normal for McCarthy. It began with the lowest of lows when he and his family were displaced by the Eaton wildfire in Altadena (about 15 miles outside of downtown Los Angeles) in January. The fire got to within 600 feet of his home, which sustained significant smoke damage. Many of his neighbors were not so lucky.<\/p>\n

Things improved dramatically over the next few months for the 54-year-old trainer when his 3-year-old colt by Curlin took him down the Derby Trail and provided him with a return trip to the Kentucky Derby.<\/p>\n

Journalism would finish second that day. But while the winner, Sovereignty, was bypassing the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in the Triple Crown, McCarthy took his charge to Pimlico and he did not disappoint. Though it wasn\u2019t the easiest of trips, Journalism muscled out of trouble and won the race, setting up another showdown with Sovereignty in the Belmont Stakes.<\/p>\n

The result in New York was the same as the Derby, but Journalism still put-in a commendable effort and McCarthy returns to Del Mar this summer with a nice bit of momentum. Journalism\u2019s impressive tally in the $1-million Haskell Stakes last Saturday on the Jersey Shore surely was a big part of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s changed me a whole lot,\u201d McCarthy says of his recent success, \u201cor changed the way we do things. But it has brought a little more light to what we\u2019re doing and it certainly opens avenues for new business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit different because it\u2019s more on the national level with him,\u201d McCarthy continues. \u201cIt\u2019s the Triple Crown and people are dialed in. So, it\u2019s brought a little more attention. You keep at it every day, you do the same things every day. We\u2019re fortunate enough to have a wonderful horse like him behind one of our webbings.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy was well prepared for the spotlight, having spent over a decade as an assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do here is basically what I was exposed to during my time working for Todd,\u201d McCarthy confides. \u201cGoing through Triple Crowns, going through Breeders\u2019 Cups, the prep races and all these types of things. So it was nothing new for us. There were no first-time jitters or \u2018I wonder how this is going to be\u2019 because you\u2019ve been exposed to it multiple times. I\u2019ve been in the paddock with 20 runners, been all over the country for multiple prep races.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fortunate enough to be in California and stay at one place for the winter,\u201d McCarthy adds. \u201cIt worked out wonderfully for Journalism. The only thing that was different about being at Churchill Downs was inclement weather for 48-hours leading up to the Derby, which we don\u2019t get to partake in here. When it rains here we\u2019re not allowed to train and the track is sealed.\u201d<\/p>\n

So now, the $1-million question. The $1-million dollar Pacific Classic question. Will he run Journalism in Del Mar\u2019s marquee race at the end of next month? McCarthy says all of the options are open.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some stage you\u2019re going to have to run against older (horses),\u201d McCarthy concedes. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot of lucrative purses throughout the country for straight 3-year-olds. The one drawback is having to put a horse like him on a plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCarthy got back to the West Coast and Del Mar ahead of Journalism. In time for the races Sunday hours after winning the G1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cScheduling-wise we thought the Haskell just made a lot of sense,\u201d McCarthy notes. \u201cIt\u2019s an easy ship. Fly into Newark and go straight to Monmouth Park. With the lack of a real equine freight service, it\u2019s difficult to get horses to certain locales. Saratoga is one of them. Fed Ex only goes so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hmmm. Sort of sounds like a reason to stay home and prep for the Breeders\u2019 Cup at Del Mar.<\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report<\/a> on Jul 25, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Journalism Back On The West Coast; All Options ‘On The Table’ For Next Start originally appeared on Paulick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[6552,10948,10951,3004,101,14245,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-22237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-del-mar","tag-haskell-stakes","tag-journalism","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-triple-crown","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}