With three of the fives starters entered in Saturday’s 34th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Next Move under his care, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin should walk away from the nine-furlong contest for fillies and mares with a victory. Not only does he have the numbers, but he has two fillies that could be loose on the lead in this nine-furlong affair.

McLaughlin had originally entered Wild Hoots and Wow Me Free for the Next Move, but when he learned the field was only at four, he decided to throw Cowgirls Don’t Cry in the mix as well. Since all three horses are owned by different people, the McLaughlin trio will be separate betting interests.

If they decide to run Jeff Singer’s Cowgirls Don’t Cry, she will clearly be the horse to catch. The four-year-old will be stretching out off a gate-to-wire score in a second-level allowance going six furlongs on February 14th. The problem with her is that she has never raced past seven furlongs.

Should Cowgirls Don’t Cry not run, the McLaughlin barn would still have the horse to catch in Dell Ridge Farm’s Wild Hoots. Arguably Wild Hoots ran the better race in the Rare Treat even though she was defeated by Next Move rival Runway Rosie.

Vying through a half-mile in :47, Wild Hoots opened up a clear lead in the stretch of the Rare Treat only to be run down late by perfect-trip winner Runway Rosie.

“She ran very well in the Rare Treat,” said Art Magnuson, McLaughlin’s assistant. “That was a tough beat after she opened up the lead and lost by a head.”

Ed Seltzer’s Wow Me Free will be making her first start since winning the December 15th Ladies Handicap at a mile and a quarter. A deep closer, the daughter of Menifee may be up against the pace scenario in the Next Move with the short field.

“She hasn’t run since December, but we’ve never stopped on her,” Magnuson said. “She’s had a couple hiccups—we didn’t like the way she was traveling at one point—but she’s doing very well now.”

Winning Move Stable’s Runway Rosie, a multiple stakes winner on the inner track this winter, will try for her fourth straight win Saturday. She sat just off the pace in the Rare Treat before wearing Wild Hoots down in the stretch.

“I like the distance and she’s coming up to an ‘A’ race,” trainer Gary Contessa said of Runway Rosie. “It seems like the farther the better for her. She’s kind of lightly built. We bought her for races like this and the overnight stakes during the winter.”

The final member of the Next Move field is Darley Stable’s Stage Luck, a winner over Runway Rose in the January 12th Affectionately Handicap. Sitting just outside Runway Rosie in the Rare Treat, Stage Luck was outfinished, hitting the wire third beaten 5 ¼ lengths.