Code of Honor | Horse Racing Free Tips

McGaughey Pointing Code Of Honor To Clark At Churchill Downs

W.S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, a last-out second to Complexity in the Grade 2 Kelso, breezed a bullet half mile solo in 47.66 Sunday on a fast main track at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trainer Shug McGaughey said the Noble Mission chestnut will target the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark, a nine-furlong test for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs -– although the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile for 3-year-olds and up on Dec. 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack remains under consideration.

“Code of Honor worked really good. I think the track pulled him along a bit but he's been doing good,” said McGaughey. “We'll see how he comes along in the next few weeks and then decide if we run here or go to the Clark, but I think the two turns and a mile and an eighth probably suits him better than the mile.”

A winner of last year's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Code of Honor is out of the graded stakes winning Dixie Union mare Reunited.

McGaughey is likely to target the Grade 1 Cigar Mile with Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer. The 4-year-old Speightstown chestnut earned a 98 Beyer last out when capturing an optional-claiming mile on Oct. 17 at Belmont off an 11-month layoff.

“Performer is doing good. If the track is OK tomorrow he'll work here,” said McGaughey.

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Performer Returns With Sharp Win; McGaughey Says Cigar Mile Could Be Next

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said he was delighted to see a triumphant return to racing action for Phipps Stable and Claiborne Farm's Performer, who emerged off an 11-month layoff to an effortless allowance victory going one mile over the Belmont Park main track.

The 4-year-old son of Speightstown, who was a last out winner of the Grade 3 Discovery on Nov. 30, 2019, saved ground along the rail and was nudged by jockey Joel Rosario around the three-eighths pole and strolled home to an in-hand 1 3/4-length triumph. He earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure in victory.

“I know it was a light field, but I was pleased with the way he went over there and did it,” McGaughey said. “He was very professional with everything he did. I didn't know what the speed was going to do. I thought the horse to the inside of us [three-time winner Empty Tomb] was going to show more speed. Joel was just patient; he knew what he had and just took it from there.”

McGaughey said he is giving strong consideration to the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile on December 5 at Aqueduct.

“It would be a big option,” said McGaughey, who won the 1996 Cigar Mile with Gold Fever.

There is a chance that McGaughey could saddle two top-level contenders for the final Grade 1 event of the year on the NYRA racing calendar as W.S. Farish's Code of Honor also is possible for the race. McGaughey said Code of Honor would be more likely for the nine-furlong two-turn G1, $500,000 Clark on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs.

“Either the Clark [for Code of Honor], or I would run the two in the Cigar Mile,” McGaughey said. “I'd be more inclined to run Code of Honor around two turns. He ran well over that track.”

A two-time G1 winner when taking last year's Travers at Saratoga and Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, Code of Honor was elevated to second in last year's G1 Kentucky Derby following the disqualification of Maximum Security, who won last year's Cigar Mile.

A direct descendant of undefeated Hall of Famer Personal Ensign and four-time G1-winning millionaire My Flag, who also were trained by McGaughey, Performer is the third progeny out of graded stakes-placed Protesting who also produced turf stakes winner Breaking the Rules. His grandam On Parade was a full-sister to 2002 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Storm Flag Flying.

“They both have distance of ground,” McGaughey said of Performer and Breaking the Rules. “She [Protesting] wanted to run long. She was fourth in three Grade 1 stakes and was second in the Demoiselle at Aqueduct. They're both nice horses, but run on different surfaces. Not that Performer couldn't run on turf, being by Speightstown.”

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McGaughey: Cigar Mile Or Clark Likely Next Start For Code Of Honor

Trainer Shug McGaughey said W.S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, a last-out second to Complexity in the Grade 2 Kelso on Oct. 3, will point to either the Grade 1, $250,000 Cigar Mile for 3-year-olds and up on December 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack or the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark, a nine-furlong test for 3-year-olds and up on November 27 at Churchill Downs. Code of Honor won't make a second try to win the Grade 1, $6-million Breeders' Cup Classic, a race in which he finished seventh behind Vino Rosso at Santa Anita in 2019.

“He's doing good. We'll point him to the Clark in Louisville or the Cigar Mile here,” said McGaughey.

Last year, the Noble Mission chestnut captured the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga en route to being elevated to victory in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont in a four-win sophomore season that also included a score in the Grade 3 Dwyer on Big Sandy.

Code of Honor owns a record of 4-1-1-1 in 2020 which includes a win in the Grade 3 Westchester on a muddy Belmont track in June.

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Code Of Honor Still Possible For Breeders’ Cup Classic After Kelso Defeat

Following a runner-up performance in Saturday's Grade 2 Kelso at Belmont Park, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey did not rule Code of Honor out of contention for the Grade 1, $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

McGaughey said if Code of Honor does go to the Breeders' Cup, he would prefer the 10-furlong Classic rather than the Dirt Mile.

“We'll have to wait and see how he comes out of it, but I'd be more inclined to run him a mile and a quarter,” McGaughey said. “A mile at Keeneland they start right on the turn and if you draw an outside post you're probably done.”

McGaughey used the Kelso as a Breeders' Cup Classic prep for Honor Code in 2015, who finished third in both races en route to Champion Older Horse honors.

A William S. Farish homebred, the 4-year-old Noble Mission chestnut colt was beaten 2 ¼ lengths to post time favorite Complexity in the one-turn mile Kelso.

McGaughey said Code of Honor is more suited for the classic distance of a mile and a quarter, having won last year's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park [via the disqualification of Vino Rosso].

“I thought he ran fine,” McGaughey said of the Kelso effort. “The first quarter wasn't that fast. I think the way the race set up with a four-horse race got us out of our game plan. I thought he ran well. They ran fast and the winner is a nice horse and he kind of had it his way. It made it a sprint to the end and we're probably not a sprinter.”

Code of Honor has not won since making his 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Westchester on June 6 at Belmont Park. Prior to the Kelso, he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Whitney and was a late-closing third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile.

McGaughey said that Code of Honor could race next year as a 5-year-old.

“All things being equal, I think he will run next year,” he said.

McGaughey worked a handful of stakes contenders on the turf on Sunday morning, including Phipps Stables' Breaking the Rules, who is scheduled to make his next start in the Grade 2, $150,000 Knickerbocker on October 12.

The 5-year-old son of War Front out of the graded stakes-placed A.P. Indy mare Protesting went five furlongs in 1:00.80.

“I thought he worked really well,” McGaughey said. “He eased away from the pole and finished up really well. He'll go to the Knickerbocker.”

Breaking the Rules was a last out fourth as the beaten favorite in the Lure following back-to-back allowance victories at Belmont and Saratoga.

McGaughey said that one can expect to see a different horse show up in his upcoming engagement.

“He ran well up there [at Saratoga], but he came back fourth in the stakes,” said McGaughey, who won the Knickerbocker with Boisterous in 2011-12. “I think he'll be a different horse this time. I don't think he was real comfortable down on the inside. Johnny [Velazquez] had been riding him on the outside, but he was at the Derby and couldn't ride.”

Allen Stable's Civil Union worked five furlongs in 1:02.22 in preparation for Saturday's Grade 1, 250,000 Flower Bowl Invitational, which McGaughey won with War Flag in 2017.

“She went just fine this morning. She went 1:02 and change and did it well. She's going to go to the Flower Bowl,” McGaughey said.

McGaughey also reported that Emory Hamilton's two-time allowance winner Hungry Kitten, who worked five furlongs in 1:02.22, will target the Grade 3, $125,000 Dowager on October 18 at Keeneland going 1 ½ miles on the turf.

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