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McGaughey Has Pegasus, Pegasus Turf On Radar For Code Of Honor, Note Dakota

Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey has the Grade 1, $3-million Pegasus World Cup on January 23 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., in mind for W.S. Farish homebred Code of Honor, who joined the conditioner's winter division at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla., after a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Clark on Friday at Churchill Downs.

The 4-year-old son of Noble Mission was sixth early on, made steady progress throughout the race and launched a four-wide move at the three-sixteenths pole, but came up a length shy of Bodexpress.

“I thought he ran fine,” McGaughey said. “I was disappointed he didn't win, but once he got freed up the other horse jumped away from him and we just couldn't catch him. He's at Payson Park this morning and we'll point for the Pegasus.”

A winner of his 2020 debut in the Grade 3 Westchester going a one-turn 1 1/16-miles at Belmont Park, Code of Honor was third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 and second in the Grade 2 Kelso on October 3, both at Belmont. As a 3-year-old, Code of Honor won the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers and was elevated to first in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Through a record of 15-6-4-2, Code of Honor has amassed $2,644,360 in lifetime earnings.

McGaughey also said Allen Stable's homebred North Dakota could target the 1 3/16-mile Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational on January 23 at Gulfstream.

North Dakota tracked 14 lengths off the pace before launching a devastating stretch run to get up in the final jumps to secure a half-length triumph in the Grade 3 Red Smith on November 21 on the Big A turf, while registering a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

The 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro colt, a half-brother to prolific stallion War Front, broke his maiden on March 25 over the turf at Tampa Bay Downs before defeating winners over the Oldsmar oval.

“I think he has a lot of upside,” McGaughey said. “It looks like he's just learning how to run. Not sure where I want to run him next, maybe the Pegasus Turf. I wish it were a little farther, that would suit him better, but we'll see.”

North Dakota is also a half-sibling to graded stakes winners Teammate, Ecclesiastic and black-type producing mare Gracie Square, whose daughter by Tapit, Mrs. Danvers, won the nine-furlong Grade 3 Comely in front-running fashion under Jose Ortiz on Friday at the Big A for McGaughey.

Also an Allen homebred, Mrs. Danvers broke her maiden last August at Saratoga and came back off 10 months rest to finish second going 6 ½ furlongs in a Belmont Park allowance on June 20. She did not find the winner's circle until her fifth start this season going a one-turn mile on October 25 over Big Sandy ahead of the Comely.

“Some of her races here earlier, she just looked like she didn't want to win,” McGaughey said. “She trained really, really well off her last race. She had a great work galloping out going into the race. I didn't know what was going to happen, with 3-year-old fillies going a mile and an eighth most of them for the first time. Jose rode a good race.”

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Bloodlines: Slow-Developing Red Smith Winner North Dakota Another Success For Broodmare Starry Dreamer

For the beautifully pedigreed North Dakota (by Medaglia d'Oro), success in the Grade 3 Red Smith Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 21 was like a spring thaw after a long, hard winter.

The 4-year-old colt won his first stakes in the Red Smith and capped a remarkable season in which the racer for the Joseph Allen Stables developed from a seemingly hapless maiden at the New Year tracks to graded stakes winner here in the penultimate month, with four victories from a half-dozen races.

In contrast, North Dakota had contrived to remain a maiden in a half-dozen previous races at 2 and 3 while being one of the most attractively bred horses in training and coming from the Hall of Fame barn of trainer C.R. “Shug” McGaughey.

Bred in Kentucky by Joseph Allen LLC, North Dakota is the 10^th and last foal out of Allen's star producer, the Rubiano mare Starry Dreamer. After the Red Smith, he is also the mare's fifth stakes winner.

Four of those won graded stakes, including leading sire War Front (Danzig), who stands at Claiborne Farm and is one of the most sought-after international stallions. Starry Dreamer's other stakes winners include G2 winner Teammate (A.P. Indy), who was also second or third in five G1 races; G3 stakes winner Ecclesiastic (Pulpit), who has been four times the leading sire in Uruguay; and Riviera Cocktail (Giant's Causeway), who was also twice placed in graded stakes. The mare also produced Jay Gatsby (also by Giant's Causeway), who was likewise twice placed in graded stakes but did not win one.

North Dakota seems to have progressed in strength and confidence from the first of the year, as well. Just viewing him on the screen, he appeared to have strengthened through the hindquarters and across the back, and there was no hesitation in the colt when jockey Jose Lezcano angled North Dakota out to challenge wide down the stretch.

The dark bay colt kept picking up horses and responded very willingly to the challenge of the towering Red Knight (Pure Prize) in the drive to the wire, and McGaughey noted after the race that “I wouldn't have thought he would be running in the Red Smith back when he broke his maiden at Tampa,” which came on on March 25. McGaughey added that North Dakota “had been training really well. I thought he had a big chance today. He's got the pedigree to do it and wants a distance of ground. Jose is a patient guy, and I said just take your time with him.”

Patience has paid off for all parties, and the colt is the greatest beneficiary. If there is further improvement in him, next season should offer some tempting options for a horse who wants to race 10 furlongs or longer on turf, and with his relations, someone will want to give him a chance at stud. If that happened, he would be the seventh son of Starry Dreamer to become a stallion.

A foal of 1994, Starry Dreamer was bred in Kentucky by Charles Nuckols & Sons from the first crop by champion sprinter Rubiano (Fappiano). Racing for Russell Reineman, she became the sire's first stakes winner with her victory in the 1996 Gold Digger Stakes at Hawthorne.

In April of 1997, Joe Allen acquired the filly privately, and she won the Palisades Stakes and Regret Stakes in her first two starts for him. In all, the gray won six of 31 starts, earning $564,789.

Retired to be a broodmare at Claiborne Farm, where Allen keeps his bloodstock, Starry Dreamer produced four stakes winners from her first four foals. Chronologically, they were Ecclesiastic, War Front, Teammate, and then Riviera Cocktail (who is a double post-barren, born after two barren years).

A couple of Storm Cat duds, one of whom was a $1 million RNA at the 2008 Keeneland September sale, were followed by an unraced Awesome Again filly named Gracie Square. The graded stakes-placed Jay Gatsby indicated that grand mare hadn't completely mislaid the plans for cooking a good one, and then North Dakota came along as the final foal after an unraced son of Smart Strike.

Both Jay Gatsby, who ran second in the G2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga and the G3 Knickerbocker at Belmont, and North Dakota are post-barren foals themselves. Research that I conducted several years ago into the foals of mares produced after a barren year showed that the percentage of stakes horses was surprisingly high.

The kink, of course, is that breeders don't plan barren years. It's counter-intuitive to try to miss a year with a mare, more especially a very good mare. The mares do that on their own; either their reproductive or immune and endocrine systems need the time off, and they get it.

It is interesting, however, that breeders may get an added benefit when their mare does go barren.

Frank Mitchell is author of Racehorse Breeding Theories, as well as the book Great Breeders and Their Methods: The Hancocks. In addition to writing the column “Sires and Dams” in Daily Racing Form for nearly 15 years, he has contributed articles to Thoroughbred Daily News, Thoroughbred Times, Thoroughbred Record, International Thoroughbred, and other major publications. In addition, Frank is chief of biomechanics for DataTrack International and is a hands-on caretaker of his own broodmares and foals in Central Kentucky. Check out Frank's lively Bloodstock in the Bluegrass blog.

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War Front’s Half Brother North Dakota Makes Last Run To Capture Red Smith

Allen Stable's North Dakota utilized a patient trip and surged under jockey Jose Lezcano to overtake Red Knight in deep stretch to post a half-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Red Smith Stakes, a 1 3/8-mile turf route for 3-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Fresh off earning a personal-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure when fourth to Red Knight in his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Sycamore on October 15 at Keeneland, North Dakota sat chilly in sixth position as 151-1 longshot Real Factor led the 11-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 24.67 seconds before opening up a 10-length lead with the half in 48.79, three-quarters in 1:13.68 and a mile in 1:38.49 on the firm inner turf course.

Red Knight, under jockey Jose Ortiz, made up ground and overtook the tiring pacesetter out of the final turn. North Dakota maintained the pressure with a strong outside bid before gaining the advantage in the final sixteenth and hitting the wire in 2:16.47 for his first stakes victory.

“I watched the replay and last time, I think he had a little bit of trouble,” Lezcano said. “I tried to give him a clean trip the whole way and not lose any momentum. He progressed. Every pole was progress. As soon as he got to the three-eighths pole, he switched gears. I hit him a couple times and he really took off and went on with it and won the race. I think he's a very nice horse. He's kind of one paced, but the longer he can go, the better for him.”

North Dakota, a half brother to graded stakes-winner and prominent sire War Front, didn't break his maiden until his seventh career race, with the late-blooming 4-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro finally earning a winner's circle trip in March at Tampa Bay Downs. Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey said he's been pleasantly surprised by his progress.

“He's come a long way. I wouldn't have thought he would be running in the Red Smith back when he broke his maiden at Tampa [on March 25],” McGaughey said. “He's been up here from Fair Hill. He had been training really well. I thought he had a big chance today. He's got the pedigree to do it and wants a distance of ground. Jose is a patient guy and I said just take your time with him and that's what he did and it worked out for him.”

Off at 8-1, North Dakota returned $19.40 on a $2 win bet. The Kentucky homebred improved his career earnings to $157,325.

Red Knight, the winner of last month's Sycamore for fellow Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott, earned a placing for the third consecutive graded stakes start, edging Ziyad by a head for second. Red Knight, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup in September at Kentucky Downs, moved to 8-7-1 in 22 career starts.

“My horse just fell out of the gate and found his own place,” Ortiz said. “I thought I was in a good position early on but when we went to the backside, everyone started worrying about the horse up front being too far in front and we had to start moving. I started moving and tried to get into position without using him much. I think I had a good trip. I passed the winner going to the half mile pole to the three-eighths pole. I passed him but then he came outside me to win the race. Good trip, no complaints. We were just second-best.”

Sadler's Joy, the 9-5 favorite and defending Red Smith winner, finished fourth. Doctor Mounty, Aquaphobia, Postulation, Real Factor, Tintoretto, Fame to Famous and Changi completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Sunday at the Big A with a 10-race card featuring a pair of New York Stallion Stakes Series contests, starting with the $100,000 Thunder Rumble for 3-year-olds and up in Race 3 and the $100,000 Staten Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in Race 9. First post is 11:50 a.m.

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