Alpha to try turf in Mac Diarmida

A multiple Grade 1 winner on dirt, Alpha will try a new surface when he opens

his five-year-old campaign next month at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is pointing the son of Bernardini to the $200,000

Mac Diarmida going 11 furlongs on the grass on February 15.

Owned by Godolpin Stable, Alpha began his 2013 season in Dubai, finishing off

the board in a pair of Group 2 races before returning to the U.S. His lone win

last season came in the Woodward at Saratoga in August.

"He's out of a Nijinsky (II) mare, and she was all turf," McLaughlin said of

the reason behind the switch. Alpha's mother, Munnaya, had one win in four

career starts in England. "We've often thought about it, and we just didn't

because he was doing so well on the dirt."

Alpha has six wins and nearly $1.8 million in earnings from 19 lifetime

starts, including victories in the Jim Dandy and Travers at Saratoga and the

Withers and Count Fleet at Aqueduct in 2012.

Stabled with McLaughlin at the Palm Meadows training center, Alpha has never

raced at Gulfstream Park.

"At Palm Meadows, we have the option of working on the turf and he worked

real well on it once, and that's all we wanted to see," McLaughlin said. "We're

going to give it a try."

Alpha breezed a half-mile in :50 4/5 over the grass on December 24, and he

has been back to the dirt for his most recent moves, including a four-furlong

work on January 25 in :50.

"The other thing is, in those types of races, usually he would be lone speed

and he likes that, being comfortably on the lead, so that's what we're going to

try," McLaughlin said. "And if it happens to rain off he loves the slop, so

there's a lot of reasons why we're pointing that way. It's a good time to try

the turf. If it doesn't work, we'll go back to the dirt."

McLaughlin is also eyeing other stakes at Gulfstream with fillies Wedding

Toast and Penwith. A four-year-old daughter of Street Sense, Wedding Toast has

strung together four straight wins including the Comely at Aqueduct on November

30, and is possible for the $100,000 Sabin at 1 1/16 miles on February 16.

Third in the Demoiselle at Aqueduct on November 30, Penwith made her

three-year-old debut by winning a one-mile allowance on January 2. She is

expected to come back in the $200,000 Davona Dale at 1 1/16 miles on February

22.

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