claude shug mcgaughey | Horse Racing Free Tips

Code of Honor came into the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes as the favorite based on his resume of wins in races like the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and the Grade 3 Dwyer. He proved why bettors had made him their choice, as he took the lead on the far turn and powered to an easy victory in the G3 Iselin at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

In his first start since the Jan. 23 Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park, Code of Honor broke cleanly, jockey Paco Lopez settling him in behind West Will Power and I'm a G Six entering the first turn. The 2019 Travers winner sat in fourth down the backstretch, never more than three lengths behind the front runners as I'm a G Six took over the lead with West Will Power and Brice in second and third. As the field hit the far turn, Lopez moved Code of Honor to the outside to make his bid for the lead.

Code of Honor had no trouble taking over as the front runner, steadily increasing his advantage around the turn and through the stretch to win the G3 Iselin by two and a half lengths. West Will Power was second with Phat Man third. Brice, Croatian, I'm a G Six, and Magic Michael rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.38. Find this race's chart here.

Code of Honor paid $4.00, $2.80, and $2.10. West Will Power paid $3.60 and $2.40. Phat Man paid $2.20.

“I thought he ran good. I was pleased, very pleased. Paco Lopez let him break and run away from there. He knows that racetrack and he had him laying up a little closer than he usually is and made his move kind of early on to try to go on and get the thing over with. He rode a really nice race on him. This is a pretty handy little horse,” trainer Claude R. 'Shug' McGaughey III said after the race. “This is the first time he has run in a long time. With my training, I don't try to overdo it. I think he could have been drifting out a little at the end. Maybe he was getting a little tired, I don't know. But we got it in him and we got a win and hopefully we can go on to some other things down the road.”

Bred in Kentucky by owner Will Farish, Code of Honor is a 5-year-old horse by Noble Mission out of the Dixie Union mare Reunited. He was a $70,000 RNA consigned by Lane's End at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. With the Iselin victory, the multiple graded stakes winner has a lifetime record of 7-4-2 in 17 starts for career winnings of $2,881,370.

The post Code of Honor Returns To Winning Form In Iselin At Monmouth appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Even after 11 career starts, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has been saying that the best is yet to come for Vigilantes Way.

Sunday's Grade 3 Eatontown Stakes at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. may be the start of that for the 4-year-old filly.

Perfectly positioned to chase soft early fractions by jockey Paco Lopez despite leaving from post position 12, Vigilantes Way showed an impressive closing kick to win the $150,000 G3 Eatontown Stakes by 2¼ lengths before a season-high crowd of 12,562 on Father's Day.

It marked the first graded stakes victory for the Phipps Stable homebred, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro out of Salute by Unbridled.

“I thought Paco rode a good race,” said McGaughey. “He got her away from there from the outside and had her in good position. I knew she would finish. She had trained very well before she went down there. It was just a matter of whether she would take the shipping on a hot day like today. She obviously did. I'm very proud of her.”

Able to break alertly with Vigilantes Way, Lopez sat behind pacesetter Valletta through tepid fractions of :24.54, :48.70, 1:12.12, and 1:35.87 for the opening mile of the mile and a sixteenth race on a turf course that has been playing fast. Lopez asked his filly coming out of the final turn, and she responded in a big way, easily surging past Valletta, who held on for second. Crystal Cliffs and Counterparty Risk finished in a dead heat for third, another half-length back, in the full field of 12 fillies and mares 3 years old and up.

The winning time for the race was 1:41.90.

“Sometimes this horse has speed, sometimes not,” said Lopez. “The post position (12) is something I usually don't like but today it worked to our advantage. I was able to get out there and get in a good position behind (Valletta). It set up nicely for us.

“Shug told me to do whatever I felt I needed to do. She is usually in the top three early and I knew she would finish. She has a strong kick. It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race but they went kind of slow so I was happy with the position I was in throughout the race. I didn't have to make up a lot of ground.”

McGaughey was especially encouraged by Vigilantes Way's prospects for the Eatontown Stakes off her last race, when she closed into slow fractions on the Preakness Day undercard at Pimlico, falling a half-length short to multiple-graded stakes winner Mean Mary.

“I thought her last race in Pimlico was a really good race because she kind of got jumbled up at the start and got out of position,” said McGaughey. “She only got beat a half-length by Mean Mary, a multiple-graded stakes winner. Now maybe we can go on and get her stretched out, maybe to a mile and an eighth. She's handy. She might be able to get it. When that will be, I don't know. But today I am very pleased with the way she ran and very proud of her.

“Getting a graded stakes win is important, especially for a filly with a pedigree like hers. It's as good a pedigree as you are going to find. So now she's a graded stakes winner. Hopefully, it might lead to something even better.”

Vigilantes Way returned $9.20 to win for her fifth lifetime victory in 12 starts. She has failed to hit the board only twice in her career.

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