For most horsemen, winning an American classic like the Belmont Stakes is a career highlight.

But when you develop another 3-year-old into a top sprinter and then manage another horse to triumph in the Breeders' Cup Classic and certain Horse of the Year honors, it's a career year.

It has been such a year for Garden City resident and thoroughbred horse trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. He won the Belmont Stakes back in June at Belmont Park with Jazil, brought Henny Hughes along to where he won the King's Bishop and Saratoga and Belmont Park's Vosburgh and topped it off by guiding the Argentina-bred Invasor, Uruguay's Horse of the Year last year, to a four-race winning streak that was topped by his victory Nov. 4 in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic - powered by Dodge at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY.

Such credentials would, in any year, assure McLaughlin of the Eclipse Award as the nation's top trainer, but, as is true to his form, nothing comes easy for McLaughlin.

His main rival for the Eclipse is trainer Todd Pletcher, who worked with McLaughlin while on staff with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Pletcher has already shattered single-season marks for graded stakes and stakes victories set by Lukas in 1987, and with earnings of more than $26 million this year, Pletcher has already broken his single-season record of $20.8 million set last year.

But McLaughlin has a strong case of his own, having skillfully managed Jazil and Henny Hughes and likely Horse of the Year, Invasor.

"I don't think there's ever a wrong year to have such a great year," McLaughlin said, reflecting on the 2006 season. "As far as the Eclipse goes, Todd has just had such an unbelievable year with the numbers and the wins and the money he's earned. He's sure deserving of it. Hopefully, our day will come and if it doesn't, the $8 million we've earned and winning all those Grade 1s for the right people is what it's all about. Todd is one of my best buddies, so if I can't win I'd want him to and probably vice-versa."

The most remarkable part of McLaughlin's year is not the fact that he won the Belmont Stakes with Jazil and upset Bernardini in the Breeders' Cup Classic with Invasor, but that things did not go exactly according to plan leading up to both races.

It is also no small feat that McLaughlin, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) several years ago, has refused to give in to the disease. Instead, he has become a spokesman and advocate for its cure.

MS has never beaten him. From the start, his wife, Letty, threw herself completely into fighting a disease with no known cure. She changed the family diet, tweaked their time together so it would not overtax her husband. They fought it out together, and McLaughlin never lost his smile or his positive outlook.

A little thing like changes in his training schedule were not about to upset him. Wet weather before the Belmont led McLaughlin to skip Jazil's final workout, electing instead to give him strong gallops up to the race. In the fall, Invasor got sick and was forced to miss the Jockey Club Gold Cup, his final prep before the Breeders' Cup Classic. McLaughlin and his team did such a great job with both horses that even though things did not go according to plan both horses were able to adjust.

"(Invasor) had been doing so well the last 30 to 90 days, but we had so much respect for Bernardini," McLaughlin said. "We were almost afraid that Bernardini would have to have some kind of traffic problem for us to beat him. It all worked out great for us."

The only part of Breeders' Cup Day that McLaughlin wishes could have gone differently was Henny Hughes' run in the Sprint. The King's Bishop and Vosburgh winner spun his wheels over the Churchill surface and finished last of 14.

"Obviously, Henny Hughes was disappointing on Breeders' Cup Day, but he made up for it three hours later," McLaughlin said, referring to the colt retiring to stud with a fee of $40,000 set for next year. "He's going to prove to be a very popular stallion."

Unfortunately for Henny Hughes, he picked the wrong day to not show up as the Breeders' Cup Sprint is by far the most important race of the year in the sprint division.

"He still has two Grade 1s, so I'd like to think he still has a shot at an Eclipse," McLaughlin said.

One horse McLaughlin does not have to worry about getting an Eclipse is Shadwell Stable's Invasor, who won the Pimlico Special, Suburban and Whitney prior to the Classic. The Argentine bred will be champion older male and likely Horse of the Year after defeating even-money favorite Bernardini in the Classic.

The best news for racing fans is that they will get to see Invasor next year. "We're not going to stop on him," McLaughlin said. "We won't work him for a month and then we'll start cranking down on him for the Donn and Dubai World Cup."

Those who work with and around McLaughlin continue to have their respect for the 46-year-old grow with each day. "He's a great person to work for if you don't win any races," Art Magnusson, McLaughlin's assistant, said. "But when you have the year we've had, it's a lot of fun."

Jockey John Velazquez, another Garden City resident, rides mostly for Pletcher, but was up on Henny Hughes for the colt's last three races. "I always think very highly of him," Velazquez said of McLaughlin. "He's a great person and he's done a great job with his horses. It's nice to see him have some big horses and win with them. He really deserves it."

Velazquez will be pulling for Henny Hughes for champion sprinter.

"The horse that won, it was his only win all year," Velazquez said. "Henny Hughes won three races and two Grade 1s. It's really unfortunate he didn't handle the track at Churchill."

Jockey Fernando Jara teamed up with McLaughlin to ride both Jazil and Invasor and is also enjoying a tremendous year, putting in flawless ride after flawless ride. "Whenever I ride for Kiaran, I have such confidence because he's a great horseman," the 18-year-old jockey said. "I couldn't have had the year I've had without him."