McGaughey began working as a trainer in 1979 and to date has won more than 240 graded stakes races.
In 1986, he got his big break when Ogden Phipps hired him to train his stable of horses.
In 1988, McGaughey won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in the United States.
Among his many wins, he has captured the Jockey Club Gold Cup three times, the Travers Stakes four times, and won the 1989 Belmont Stakes with Hall of Fame Champion Easy Goer as well as the 2013 Kentucky Derby with Orb.
Among the other horses he has trained are back-to-back Breeders' Cup Mile winner Lure and Hall of Famer Personal Ensign.