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Kelso Winner Complexity, First Lady Winner Uni Will Prepare For Breeders’ Cup Engagements In New York

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown won a pair of graded races on Saturday taking the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park with Breeders' Cup-bound Complexity and the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland with reigning Champion Turf Female Uni.

Owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, Complexity earned a career-best 110 Beyer for his prominent score in the one-turn mile Kelso in which he got the jump on multiple Grade 1-winner Code of Honor, who had to settle for second.

Brown said Complexity will now point to the two-turn Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, although he will also nominate the 4-year-old Maclean's Music colt to the six-furlong Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint.

“He ran super yesterday,” said Brown. “I'm pointing him towards the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. I think six furlongs might be a little quick for him, but I'll keep him eligible for both races.”

A five-time winner from nine starts, Complexity captured the 2018 Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont and was runner-up in the Grade 1 Forego on August 29 contested during a rainstorm over a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track.

Michael Dubb, Head of Plains Partners, Robert LaPenta and Bethlehem Stables' Uni earned a 99 Beyer in her successful title defense in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland. The 6-year-old More Than Ready chestnut overtook stablemate Newspaperofrecord in deep stretch to secure her fourth career Grade 1 win with a one-length score over Beau Recall, who nosed out Newspaperofrecord for place.

Brown said Uni will return to Belmont to prepare to defend her title in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile against the boys on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“Uni ran really well and we'll bring her back here to train up to the final start of her career in the Breeders' Cup Mile,” said Brown. “Hopefully, she can defend her title.”

Klaravich Stables' Newspaperofrecord, who captured the 2018 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has enjoyed a productive 4-year-old campaign with wins in the Grade 3 Intercontinental on June 6 and the Grade 1 Longines Just a Game on June 27, both at Belmont.

Brown said the Irish-bred daughter of Lope de Vega could target the Grade 1 Matriarch, a one-mile turf test on November 29 at Del Mar.

“Newspaper will come back here and I'll talk to Seth Klarman about if we want to run her one more time or not this year,” said Brown. “If we do, it would be in the Matriarch. We could just rest her.”

Brown said Newspaperofrecord is likely to return to the races as a 5-year-old.

“I would say probably if she is in good health we'd like to run her another year,” said Brown.

Brown breezed a number of upcoming stakes starters on the Belmont inner turf on Sunday morning, including the Peter Brant-owned 2018 Champion Turf Female Sistercharlie, who went five-eighths in 1:02.88.

The breeze took place less than an hour before the Brant-owned Sottsass, Sistercharlie's 4-year-old half-brother by Siyouni, captured the prestigious Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. Sottsass is trained by Jean-Claude Rouget.

“I'm so happy for Peter,” said Brown. “It's a race he's wanted to win for a long time. He kept him over there this year to point for that race and I'm so happy that it worked out. It's an incredible family.”

Both Sistercharlie, a seven-time Grade 1-winner, and Sottsass are out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, who also produced the Group/Graded winner My Sister Nat, a 5-year-old Acclamation mare who captured the Grade 3 Waya in August for Brown and Brant.

Sistercharlie, who ran third in both the Grade 2 Ballston Spa and Grade 1 Diana this summer at Saratoga, will look to secure the first win of her 6-year-old campaign in Saturday's 10-furlong Grade 1, $250,000 Flower Bowl which offers a berth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Keeneland.

“The breeze went good,” said Brown. “She's running back into form. Her last race was an acceptable one. She got a late start this year but I think she'll run well.”

Sistercharlie is likely to square off with stablemates Cambier Parc and Nay Lady Nay in the Flower Bowl.

OXO Equine's multiple Grade 1-winner Cambier Parc worked five furlongs in 1:01.40 Sunday on the Belmont inner turf.

“She breezed good. She'll run in Flower Bowl,” said Brown.

The Medaglia d'Oro bay, out of Canada's 2007 Horse of the Year Sealy Hill, captured the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks and Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last year in a sophomore campaign that also included wins in the Grade 3 Wonder Again at Belmont and the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream Park.

First Row Partners and Hidden Brook Farm's Irish-bred Nay Lady Nay, a multiple graded-stakes winning 4-year-old daughter of No Nay Never worked a half-mile in 49 flat on Saturday on the Monmouth Park main track.

Nay Lady Nay made the grade last year in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs and on July 18 added the Grade 3 Matchmaker at Monmouth to her ledger.

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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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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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Code Of Honor Returns From Freshening In Saturday’s Kelso

W.S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, a multiple Grade 1-winner trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, leads a talented field of five in Saturday's 40th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Kelso Handicap, a one-turn mile on the main track for 3-year-olds and upward at Belmont Park.

The Kelso is one of five graded races on Saturday's card which includes the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational, a 10-furlong turf test offering a berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf; the Grade 1, $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at 12 furlongs on the turf for 3-year-olds and up; the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at 6 ½-furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up; and the Grade 2, $150,000 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16-miles on the turf.

Code of Honor enjoyed a tremendous sophomore campaign, capturing the 10-furlong Grade 1 Runhappy Travers at Saratoga ahead of a dramatic stretch duel with Vino Rosso in the 10-furlong Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup in which Code of Honor was elevated to victory. A standout 2019 season included graded scores in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park and the Grade 3 Dwyer at Belmont, the latter following a game effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, where the talented chestnut was elevated to second.

The 4-year-old Noble Mission colt opened his current campaign with a half-length score over Kelso-rival Endorsed in the Grade 3 Westchester traveling 1 1/16-miles over a muddy Belmont main. The $2.5-million earner followed with a closing third in the Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 and was subsequently an even fourth in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Whitney on August 1 at the Spa, defeated five lengths to the victorious Improbable who came back to win the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Following a brief freshening, Code of Honor has breezed five times, including a half-mile effort in 48.45 seconds Monday on Big Sandy. McGaughey said the colt is training forwardly as he prepares for the second half of his 2020 campaign.

“He's doing really well and has trained well into this,” said McGaughey.

McGaughey, who won the 1993 Kelso with Hall of Famer Lure, said he preferred to bring Code of Honor back at a shorter distance rather than defend his title in the Grade 1, $250,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 10.

“After the Whitney I had to start over with him, so this is the restart,” said McGaughey. “I don't want to run him a mile and a quarter after I backed off on him.”

Code of Honor will exit post 5 under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, taking over from Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who will be piloting Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner Authentic in the Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico.

Godolphin homebred Endorsed sports a record of four wins and three seconds from 11 starts as he looks for his first career stakes score for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott.

The regally bred Medaglia d'Oro colt, out of the 2012 Grade 1 Gazelle-winner Dance Card, opened his 4-year-old campaign in January with an optional claiming score at Gulfstream Park for former conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin. Following a fifth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March, Endorsed was transferred to the care of Mott and promptly won an optional-claiming tilt traveling 1 1/16-miles on May 2 at Oaklawn Park.

Endorsed proved stubborn down the lane with a prominent trip to be second in the Grade 3 Westchester ahead of a seventh in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile. Last out, the versatile bay completed the exacta behind Spinoff in the restricted nine-furlong Alydar on August 9 at Saratoga.

Mott, in search of his first Kelso win, said Endorsed will appreciate the turn back in distance.

“I think the one-turn mile is good for him,” said Mott. “I think that he's effective from a mile to a mile and a quarter, but he seemed to run real good here in the one-turn mile and a sixteenth in the Westchester.”

Junior Alvarado will have the call from post 3.

Klaravich Stables' lightly raced Grade 1-winner Complexity will look to give four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown a second Kelso score following Patternrecognition's winning effort in 2018.

The 4-year-old Maclean's Music bay won the 2018 Grade 1 Champagne at second asking at Belmont but was tenth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile to complete the campaign. Complexity made three sophomore starts with an optional-claiming score on Big Sandy sandwiched between off-the-board efforts in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont and the Grade 1 Malibu in December at Santa Anita.

Complexity kicked off his 4-year-old season with a smart 2 ¼-length score over Win Win Win in an optional-claiming mile on July 2 at Belmont, but had to settle for second to that same rival last out in the Grade 1 Forego contested through a rainstorm over a sloppy Saratoga main track on August 29.

Complexity will emerge from post 4 under Jose Ortiz.

Long Lake Stable's Stan the Man, trained by John Terranova, scratched out of last Saturday's six-furlong Grade 2 Vosburgh to enter the one-turn mile Kelso. Although cross-entered in Saturday's Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash, he will compete at Belmont this weekend.

A veteran of 24 career starts, the Broken Vow chestnut boasts a record of 7-7-2 and enters from a last-to-first score in the restricted Tale of the Cat at six furlongs on August 20 at the Spa.

Stan the Man, who won the 2019 Queens County at the Big A, will be in search of a first graded stakes score in his fourth attempt. The gelding was sixth in the 2018 Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct; a front-running second in the 2019 Grade 3 Westchester at Belmont; and fifth in the 2019 Grade 2 True North.

Eric Cancel, aboard for the Cigar Mile effort, will guide Stan the Man from post 2.

Ron Paolucci Racing's Mo Dont No, a 7-year-old Ohio-bred son of Uncle Mo who is cross-entered in Friday's Grade 2 Phoenix at Keeneland, will instead make his New York debut in his 45th career start.

Trained by Anthony Quartarolo, the multiple stakes-winning Mo Dont No boasts a record of 20-10-3 with purse earnings in excess of $1 million. Two starts back, Mo Dont No captured the Governor's Buckeye Cup for the third time when traveling 10 furlongs against fellow Ohio-breds. He enters the Kelso off a flat sixth in the nine-furlong Grade 2 Charles Town Classic held August 28.

Manny Franco picks up the mount from the inside post.

The Kelso is slated as Race 8 on Saturday's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 12:40 p.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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