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Code of Honor Meets Complexity in Kelso

W.S. Farish’s multiple Grade I winner Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) will meet surging ‘TDN Rising Star’ Complexity (Maclean’s Music) for the first time since their juvenile season over a flat mile in the GII Kelso S. Saturday at Belmont.

Second to Complexity at 14-1 in the GI Champagne S. here two falls ago, Code of Honor captured the GII Xpressbet Fountain of Youth S. two starts later and was runner-up via disqualification in the GI Kentucky Derby two starts after that. Dominating the GIII Dwyer S. over track and trip, he scored victories in the GI Runhappy Travers S. and GI Jockey Club Gold Cup before fizzling out when seventh in the GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. Annexing the GIII Westchester S. in his seasonal debut here June 6, the chestnut was third in the GI Runhappy Metropolitan H. before running an even fourth in the GI Whitney S. last out Aug. 1 at Saratoga.

Complexity picked up his ‘Rising Star’ badge with a 4 1/4-length debut victory on closing day at Saratoga in 2018, but following his wire-to-wire Champagne tally, beat just three horses combined in the GI Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and GI Woody Stephens S. Laid up for over five months, the $375,000 Keeneland September grad rediscovered his top form with a dominant optional claimer win at Aqueduct, but backed up to fourth when shipped cross-country for the GI Malibu S. Adding another optional claiming success in his track-and-trip return July 2, the bay produced clearly his best stakes effort since the Champagne when finishing a hard-fought, half-length second in the GI Forego S. Aug. 29 at Saratoga.

Endorsed (Medaglia d’Oro) battled Code of Honor to within a half-length as a runner-up in the Westchester, but made no impact when seventh in the Met Mile and finished second at 3-5 in the Alydar S. last out Aug. 9 at the Spa.

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Kingman Colt Looks Tough in Pilgrim

Klaravich Stables’ Public Sector (GB) (Kingman {GB}) will try to build off an impressive debut victory at Saratoga with a graded stakes success as a likely favorite in Saturday’s GII Pilgrim S. for juvenile males on the Belmont turf.

Bought for 170,000 guineas as a Tattersalls October yearling, the bay was unveiled as a 2-1 favorite Aug. 15 at the Spa and rallied from seventh to win going away by two lengths, clocking his final five-sixteenths in a sharp :28.80. He has drilled five times since then for Chad Brown, most recently going five furlongs around dogs on the local turf in 1:01 2/5 (3/11) Sept. 27.

The two most likely upsetters appear to be Larry and Jennifer Goichman’s Shawdyshawdyshawdy (Summer Front) and Mike Rutherford’s American Monarch (American Pharaoh). The former, a first-out victor Aug. 1 at Saratoga, shipped to Kentucky Downs for the Sept. 7 More Than Ready Juvenile S. and closed to be fourth, beaten just a length on the wire. The latter, another debut scorer in upstate New York Aug. 8, returns on just 13 days’ rest after running fourth in the GI Summer S. at Woodbine.

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Chances Galore in Deep Shadwell Mile

Last-out Grade I winner Halladay (War Front) is favored on the morning line for Saturday’s GI Shadwell Turf Mile S. at Keeneland, but there are strong contenders up and down the lineup of the 11-horse “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Dual stakes placed last fall as a sophomore, Harrell Ventures’ gray captured the Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream to close his season before running fourth in the GIII Tampa Bay S. Feb. 8. Scoring victories with triple-digit Beyers in an optional claimer and the Sunshine Forever S. this spring in Hallandale, he settled for fourth when taken off the lead in the GII Bernard Baruch H., then reverted to his previous tactics and went wire to wire in the GI Fourstardave H. Aug. 22 at Saratoga.

Chad Brown, who failed to crack the superfecta with a quartet of challengers in the Fourstardave, is back with another foursome here. ‘TDN Rising Star’ Analyze It (Point of Entry) leads the charge in his second start off a long layoff. Winning his first three outings by a combined 15 3/4 lengths, the bay then finished second by a neck in the GIII Pennine Ridge S., by a head in the GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. and again by a neck in the GI Secretariat S. Fourth as the chalk in this event two falls ago, he went to the bench after a third in the 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile and returned after over 22 months off to take the GIII Red Bank S. last out Sept. 5 at Monmouth.

Lightly-raced Flavius (War Front) dons the Juddmonte colors for Brown. Two-for-three in Ireland for Dermot Weld, he was fourth in his first two Stateside starts before running third with late traffic trouble in the First Defence S. June 7 at Belmont. The homebred put it all together with a late-running triumph in the Tourist Mile S. last out Sept. 7, earning a career-high 105 Beyer. Rounding out the Brown contingent are MGISW Raging Bull (Dark Angel {Ire}), who removes blinkers following a mild fifth in the Fourstardave, and Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a Group 1 winner in Great Britain who is winless so far in five North American starts.

Longshot contenders include Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed), Born Great (Scat Daddy) and Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}). Casa Creed, last year’s GII Hall of Fame S. winner, ran two sneaky-good races to start his 4-year-old campaign and closed well to be third in the slow-paced Fourstardave. Born Great, who has run just three times, looks to strike while the iron’s hot after scoring two sharp successes in a seven-day span at Kentucky Downs. Ivar, a dual Group 1 winner in Argentina, upset a Churchill optional claimer with a 100 Beyer two back and was a strong third after dueling on a fast pace in the Tourist Mile.

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Saratoga Derby Top Three Meet Again in Open Belmont Derby

The first three across the wire in a blanket finish in the Saratoga Derby Invitational S. last month will reconvene along with some interesting new shooters in Saturday’s GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. at Big Sandy, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Narrowly victorious at the Spa was Klaravich Stables’ Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), given slight morning-line favoritism here at 5-2. Bought for 300,000 guineas at Tattersalls October in 2018, the gelding graduated on debut at even-money Feb. 12 at Tampa and repeated with a fast finish in a mile allowance here June 7. Left with too much to do when third in the GII Hall of Fame S. July 18 at the Spa, he showed tactical speed for the first time in the Saratoga Derby and ground out a head victory.

Just missing was runner-up Gufo (Declaration of War). Graduating at second asking Dec. 29 at Gulfstream, the chestnut scored last-to-first victories in an optional claimer and the English Channel S. there Mar. 27 and May 2, respectively before making it three in a row with a half-length success in the GIII Kent S. July 4 at Delaware.

Wertheimer et Frere’s No Word (Silent Name {Jpn}) was a debut winner last summer at Saratoga and finished fifth as the favorite in the GIII Pilgrim S. in his juvenile finale. Third in a pair of tries this summer, the dark bay narrowly annexed a local optional claiming July 9 before running third at 18-1 in the Saratoga Derby.

Two last-out stakes winners add to the fray. Moon Over Miami (Malibu Moon), who was briefly on the GI Kentucky Derby trail earlier this year, scored a Churchill allowance victory on grass June 20 before running fourth at 14-1 in the Hall of Fame and drawing in off the also-eligible list to take the Gun Runner Dueling Grounds Derby Sept. 10 at Kentucky Downs. Godolphin’s Pixelate (City Zip), second or third in five straight stakes tries as a 3-year-old–including a runner-up finish to Gufo in the Kent–surged late to get up by a head in the GII Del Mar Derby Sept. 6.

Rounding out the major contenders is Venezuelan Hug (Constitution). Claimed from Orlyana Farm and Alexis Delgado when running third in a $40,000 maiden claimer Mar. 25 at Gulfstream, the gray dominated Florida-bred maiden special weight rivals next out Apr. 25 and repeated in a starter optional claimer May 30. Not quite ready for prime time when last of six in the GII Pennine Ridge S. here June 20, he bounced back with a sharp allowance success Aug. 9 at Saratoga and shows a pair of bullet half-mile works over Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf for Danny Gargan in this return to stakes company.

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