HORSE RACING

• Mafaaz on the road to recovery

  
  

  Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Mafaaz, winner of the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes this year in England, is battling back from medical problems that have kept him from racing. The three-year-old is part of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's stable.

  "He is back on the farm and he seems like a happy horse," said Neal McLaughlin, assistant to his brother.

  "After we got him, he was gelded and then went to Saratoga the first of June. He was there about a week and got real sick. He lost muscle and started losing protein through his liver. It was pretty dangerous and we have no idea what caused it." Mafaaz spent more than three months at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

  Mafaaz, owned by Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, became eligible for a $100,000 bonus if he started in the Kentucky Derby following his victory in the Challenge Stakes. He was trained by John Gosden at the time of the Challenge Stakes at Kempton Park.

  However, a disappointing eighth in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland forced Kiaran Mclaughlin to have Mafaaz skip the Kentucky Derby.

  "He's a neat horse and I was excited about American racing for him," said Neal McLaughlin.

  "I don't know if he will make it back to the races. Hopefully he will. Things seem to be going well."

  11/20 10:48:50 ET