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Tom’s D’Etat, Code Of Honor To Clash In Five-Horse Whitney

A field comprised of five millionaires will make up a talented group of older horses assembled for the 93rd running of Saturday's Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney going 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga Race Course.

Whitney Day will feature three Grade 1 events, led by the historic Whitney, with an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic on November 7 at Keeneland on the line. The card is bolstered by the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign presented by NYRA Bets, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Distaff in November; and the Grade 1, $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy for 3-year-olds sprinting seven furlongs. The stakes-laden card also includes the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green for 4-year-olds and up on the turf and the $200,000 Caress, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for older fillies and mares. The card will be broadcast on Saratoga Live beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX Sports and MSG Networks.

The Whitney pays homage to one of the Spa's most influential families, who for generations have had a profound effect on horse racing in upstate New York. The prominent Whitney family's involvement in thoroughbred racing began with Jockey Club co-founder William Collins Whitney, who began owning thoroughbreds in 1898. His son Harry Payne Whitney campaigned horses under the moniker of Greentree Stables, who hold the record for most victories in the family's namesake race with six winners. Horses owned by members of the Whitney family have gone on to win every major horse race in North America, including all three American Classics.

This year's edition of the Whitney will feature W.S. Farish's two-time Grade 1-winner Code of Honor, who arrives off a late-closing third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile, where the 4-year-old chestnut son of Noble Mission settled at the rear of the field off a leisurely pace, went five wide around the turn and closed to finish 1 ½ lengths to frontrunning winner Vekoma.

Last year, Code of Honor captured four graded stakes victories, including triumphs in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers en route to a win in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

Code of Honor, trained by Hall of Famer and three-time Whitney-winner Shug McGaughey, will attempt to become the first horse to capture the Travers, Jockey Club Gold Cup and Whitney in a career since Easy Goer. The Hall of Fame horse, who was also conditioned by McGaughey, accomplished the feat in one calendar year in 1989.

McGaughey said Code of Honor has proven capable of winning at one turn, but the horse is more suited for two turns.

“Two turns going a mile and an eighth is what he wants to do,” said McGaughey, whose other Whitney victors include champions Personal Ensign (1988) and Honor Code (2015). “I do think that last year, the [Grade 3] Dwyer [going one turn at Belmont Park] was one of his better races. But now that he's gotten older, and gotten stretched out, two turns going a mile and an eighth to a mile and a quarter is where he'll run his better races.”

Prior to the Runhappy Met Mile, Code of Honor made his seasonal bow a winning one, when taking the Grade 3 Westchester on June 6 at Belmont Park by a half-length.

With an overall record of 12-6-2-2, Code of Honor brags the highest earnings in the field with $2,473,320.

Code of Honor will attempt to maintain an unbeaten record at Saratoga. A year prior to winning the Runhappy Travers, he was a gate-to-wire maiden winner at the Spa during his 2-year-old campaign.

“He's always liked it up here and liked training over the track. But it's a different main track up here now than it was in the Travers. How much different, I'm not sure,” said McGaughey. “I think that Code of Honor has always liked it up here. He trained well here as a 2-year-old and ran well. He trained well here as a 3-year-old and ran well. He's been training well since we've come up here this year, so hopefully he runs well again.”

Breaking from post 3, Code of Honor will be ridden by jockey John Velazquez, who will attempt to tie fellow Hall of Famers Pat Day and Jerry Bailey with the most wins in the race with five.

Trainer Al Stall, Jr. saddled subsequent Breeders' Cup Classic winner and Champion Older Horse Blame to victory in the 2010 Whitney off a four-race win streak. This year, the conditioner sends out red-hot Tom's d'Etat, who also arrives at the race off similar form with four straight wins.

Owned by Gayle Benson's G M B Racing, the 7-year-old son of Smart Strike enters the Whitney off graded stakes triumphs in the Grade 2 Fayette on October 26 at Keeneland, the Grade 1 Clark on November 29 at Churchill Downs and the Grade 2 Stephen Foster on June 27 at Churchill Downs.

Coincidentally, these were three of the same four races that Blame had won heading into his Whitney victory.

“There's no substitute for class and they both have it,” Stall, Jr. said. “He's a very classy horse. He's very laid back, easy to deal with, and easy to ride in the mornings.”

Tom's d'Etat leads all Whitney entrants with three victories at the Spa. As a 3-year-old, he broke his maiden at third asking by four lengths and won an allowance optional claiming event by nine lengths the following year. Last season, he was a one-length winner of the Alydar.

Additionally, Tom's d'Etat also boasts the most wins at the distance, having won six times going nine furlongs, three of which were at the Spa.

“Some horses just take to it,” Stall, Jr. said. “I can tell in the couple weeks he's been here, his hair is great and his eye is just what you want and it seems like he knows just where he is. He's been here at 3, 4 and 6. He took off just one year and this will be his fourth year here and he seems to know his way around.”

His only defeat at Saratoga was in last year's Grade 1 Woodward, where he was a close but troubled fourth finishing 1 ¾ lengths to Preservationist.

“We had an awful trip in that race, but he fired his best shot that day,” Stall Jr. said.

At the ripe age of 7, Stall, Jr. said Tom's d'Etat is better than ever.

“We see no signs of him going the other direction on us, especially from a mental standpoint,” Stall, Jr said. “He's one of the last great progenies of Smart Strike. We just feel fortunate to be in this situation all the way around. To be in this spot, to run in these types of races, run in these Grade 1s and more importantly, we're happy that he has a super nice place to go to when his racing career is over [WinStar Farm].”

Bred in Kentucky by SF Bloodstock, Tom's d'Etat is out the Giant's Causeway broodmare Julia Tuttle whose dam Candy Cane is a full sister to undefeated Grade 1 winner and multiple champion-producing sire Candy Ride.

Tom's d'Etat has never lost in five starts with jockey Joel Rosario aboard and will attempt to keep an unscathed record intact from post 5 as the 6-5 morning line favorite.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will saddle Improbable in attempt to be the first trainer to notch back-to-back wins in the Whitney since Scotty Schulhofer with Colonial Affair and Unaccounted For in 1994-95.

Owned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing, the 4-year-old City Zip chestnut won the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita last out by 3 ¼ lengths, producing a career-best 105 Beyer.

“He's doing really well,” said Baffert, who won last year's Whitney with McKinzie. “I think he's a much bigger and stronger horse than last year.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., who was aboard 2018 Whitney winner Diversify, will pilot Improbable from post 2.

Allied Racing Stable's By My Standards will attempt to turn the tables on Tom's d'Etat after finishing second in the Stephen Foster.

Trained by Bret Calhoun, the three-time graded stakes winning son of Goldencents began his 2020 campaign with three victories, including Grade 2 scores in the New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds and Oaklawn Handicap, en route to the Stephen Foster.

During his sophomore campaign, By My Standards won the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby At Fair Grounds before a twelfth-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby – his only off-the-board finish in ten starts.

“He's a good-minded horse and does everything the right way. He's a very smart horse and he's proved that he'll handle [shipping in], so we're confident sending him up there,” Calhoun said. “Tom's d'Etat beat us last time with a great race, and we have the utmost respect for him and Code of Honor and all of them in there. But we think our horse is improving and we're hoping Whitney Day will be the day he brings his best.”

All three of By My Standards' graded stakes wins were at the nine-furlong distance.

“That's another key. With a Grade 1, and a mile-and-an-eighth, and how he's training; they are all reasons why we're coming,” Calhoun said.

By My Standards will exit from post 1 under Jose Ortiz.

Rounding out the field is Chester and May Broman's eight-time stakes-winning New York-bred millionaire Mr. Buff, who attempts his first graded stakes victory for trainer John Kimmel.

Likely to show early speed, Mr. Buff will be looking for his first win since a runaway 20-length score in the Haynesfield on February 22 at Aqueduct.

“We know this place has been known as the “Graveyard of Favorites,” but Mr. Buff is stepping into some deep water in this race,” Kimmel said. “People might look at his last race and just kind of think that he's a little bit off form. But this horse has run commensurate numbers with all the horses in this race when he's been running against New York-bred company. People obviously think he can't do it against open company.”

Mr. Buff arrives at the Whitney off a distant fifth in the Grade 2 Suburban on July 4 at Belmont Park.

“This horse in his last race actually had a little bone bruise in his foot,” Kimmel said. “We went into it thinking he was OK, but I definitely think it bothered him. The blacksmith after that race cut out a little area and he had a little area of blood and some damage and since we have re-shod him, he has been a very happy horse here. He's had two very nice breezes over the racetrack.”

Mr. Buff will leave from post 4 under jockey Junior Alvarado, who was the pilot aboard 2014 Whitney winner Moreno.

The Whitney, one of the most important races in the North American handicap division, has been won by subsequent Champion Older Horses Gun Runner (2017), Honor Code (2015), Blame (2010), Lawyer Ron (2007), Invasor (2006), Left Bank (2002), Lemon Drop Kid (2000), Victory Gallop (1999), Criminal Type (1990) and Slew o' Gold (1984). Prominent Whitney victors during the early years of the race include all-time greats Equipoise (1932), Discovery (1934-36), War Admiral (1938), Stymie (1946), Tom Fool (1953), Carry Back (1962), Kelso (1961, 1963, 1965), Dr. Fager (1968) and Alydar (1978).

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‘Huge Heart’: 8-Year-Old American Sailor Better Than Ever, Takes Aim On Troy Stakes

Firm in his belief that Raj Jagnanan's stakes winner American Sailor is better than ever at the age of 8, trainer Wayne Potts is taking aim at a big target.

Based with Potts at Laurel Park, where he opened his season in impressive fashion last month, American Sailor is being pointed to a return to graded-stakes competition in the $200,000 Troy (G3) Aug. 8 on the Saratoga turf.

The 5 ½-furlong Troy would be the third time facing graded company for American Sailor and the first since running 10th in the 2016 Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G3) at Churchill Downs for previous trainer Joe Sharp.

“He has a huge heart, a huge heart. He just does everything you ask him to do,” Potts said. “When he hits the racetrack, he's all business.”

American Sailor, a gelded son of City Zip, won a turf sprint stakes at Sam Houston in 2016 and ran second in subsequent editions to begin his 2017, 2018 and 2019 campaigns. The connections skipped the trip this past winter and wound up not getting started until June 8, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic that paused live racing in Maryland for 2 ½ months until May 30.

“I think we did the right thing by finally letting him go out and drop his head and be a horse. We gave him the winter off and he came back, and I think he's better now than when I previously had him, knock on wood, that's for sure,” Potts said. “We're very pleased with him.”

The speedy American Sailor earned his 14th career victory in the third-level optional claiming allowance at Laurel, opening up by as many as five lengths after a half-mile to win by a length in 1:03.53 for 5 ½ furlongs. He followed up with a determined runner-up effort after setting the pace in the Wolf Hill Stakes July 18 at Monmouth, finishing between Archidust and Shekky Shebaz – both turf stakes winners at Saratoga.

“It was a very solid field. We were thrilled. It was a super effort, and he gave it everything he had,” Potts said. “He came out of the race very good so I nominated him to the Troy. We're going to look at the race at Saratoga, and I nominated him to the Da Hoss [Aug. 15] at Colonial [Downs] as a backup plan.”

American Sailor, seventh in last year's Da Hoss, is among 17 nominees to the Troy. He was claimed by Potts for $25,000 out of a Sept. 3, 2017 win at Suffolk Downs and ran nine times with two wins and a second in the stakes at Sam Houston before being lost for a $7,500 tag in June 2018.

Jagnanan purchased American Sailor privately after he made one start for owner-trainer David Nunn, and has a record of 4-3-1 with nearly $300,000 in purse earnings from 12 races since being reunited with Potts.

Potts made two starts at Saratoga last summer, both with the gelding Dazzling Okie, finishing third in a mid-July claimer.

“I've never won a race at Saratoga, so it would be a steppingstone in the right direction,” Potts said. “We might get a short field there, who knows. We have to see how it all plays out, but as long as he stays like he is right now, I plan on being there.”

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Baffert Doesn’t Like Inside Post, Will Scratch McKinzie From Saturday’s Bing Crosby

McKinzie will not run in this Saturday's Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar, trainer Bob Baffert told the Daily Racing Form on Wednesday. The 5-year-old son of Street Sense drew post four of ten in the six-furlong sprint contest, and Baffert doesn't believe the horse will be able to make his best effort from that spot.

“If I had an outside post, I was going to take a chance at it,” Baffert told drf.com. “But he's down in the four-hole, and this track's been playing weird. It's real loose and deep. A horse like him wouldn't have a chance.”

Instead, Baffert plans to wait for the G2 Pat O'Brien over seven furlongs on Aug. 29. Though the “Win and You're In” race offers a berth to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, Baffert's long-term goal for McKinzie is still the Breeders' Cup Classic over 1 1/4 miles.

Mohaather Earns Breeders’ Cup Mile Berth With Impressive Sussex Victory

Mohaather (Marcus Tregoning/Jim Crowley, 3/1) put up an amazing performance to land the highlight of the Qatar Goodwood Festival, the one-mile G1 Qatar Sussex Stakes on Wednesday. The victory earned Mohaather an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Mile this fall at Keeneland.

Two furlongs from home, the winner still had five of the seven runners in front of him with jockey Jim Crowley facing a wall of horses. Crowley did not panic and pulled his mount wide approaching the final furlong. The response was electric from Mohaather, who overhauled leader Circus Maximus (Aidan O'Brien/Ryan Moore, 6/1) entering the final half-furlong before going on to win by a cozy three-quarters of a length.

It was a first Qatar Sussex Stakes for trainer Marcus Tregoning and owner Hamdan Al Maktoum, while jockey Jim Crowley was winning the prestigious prize for the second time following Here Comes When (2017).

Marcus Tregoning said: “I have had to wait a long time for this, but quite honestly we didn't have the horses. When I left Lambourn I had to start again with not very many – it was like starting from the beginning. Luckily, Sheikh Hamdan supported me very well.

“It's a big day for the team and for Sheikh Hamdan. He is a very good owner to train for. He is a lot of fun and a lot of people don't see that. He takes adversity really well; when things don't go right, move on. To have someone with so much confidence behind you does make you a better trainer.

“It was a tactical race today and we thought it would be. He struggled to get out, he is not the biggest horse and he struggled to find a gap, but Jim [Crowley, jockey] kept his calm and with the knowledge that he has that massive kick.

“It was a little bit of a nightmare to watch, but I knew if Mohaather got out, he would have the speed; he has got a very good turn of foot, as you can see. I know it's a well-used expression, but he does find heaps under pressure, and I couldn't have been happier with the way he came into the race – the team have done a great job. Obviously, I am lucky to train horses for Sheikh Hamdan, because he has been an avid supporter, so we are all thrilled.

“Angus Gold sourced the horse for Sheikh Hamdan at Tattersalls Book Two, and sent me to look at him. He was a tiny little thing, but he came from a very stout family, and Angus was quite insistent we got into it if we possibly could, if I could stand the look of the yearling. He has done nothing but thrive, and I should have known better because I trained a filly called Dominica, who wasn't even 15 hands, to win the King's Stand Stakes [then a G2 race], so it isn't always about big horses. He is a lovely looking horse and I thought in the paddock he had a lot of quality – I know I train him, but he had more quality than the others. He is a beautiful horse and we are so lucky to have him.

“He got a beautiful ride from Dane O'Neill at Ascot last time [when winning G2 Summer Mile] – it was a solid G2 and he could have won it by six lengths. He could have won here much easier if he had the chance to, but that's tactics. Luckily, it came off today. I would have been pretty sore if he hadn't been able to win, because I thought he was in really good order. Obviously, it was a tactical race but luckily he came out on top.

“I thought he would win. All the indications were that we had him right, and he has done nothing but please me. He's quite an exuberant work horse; my 15-year-old daughter rides him – she is so light and a very good rider, David Croft rides him most of the time, George Tregoning has ridden him plenty of times, Hallie Meroski rides him – she is very good. It's just a matter of keeping the right people on him – hence I put my 15-year-old daughter on him! I was speaking to Gary Moore about recruiting staff, and he said, well, the family all get involved. It is so much easier if you do that because we all come home and tell the stories. It is a big team thing, but it is lovely having the family involved. Three of them ride out for me every morning, and it makes it fun.

“I left Lambourn and came to Whitsbury on the advice of Chris Harper – he said come and join us, so I did – and started with very few horses again. Having always been lucky enough to train more than 100 horses, I started again with 30 or so and no staff, apart from my head lad and his wife, but David Croft, who has been with every trainer at Whitsbury, luckily came to me.

“Showcasing is a very good stallion and is doing really well. This is important for the stallion, I know that, because now he has a top-class miler, and a top-class stallion needs to get a good miler, and this is it. They will drop my rent and put his price up, so we'll be fine!

“It's very special that Gaie Johnson Houghton bred Mohaather – they are a lovely family and Eve's done amazing well, she's like her grandmother Helen and firing in the winners left, right and centre. She is a great trainer and we are good friends. I have known the family for a long time and it's really great that she's bred another top-class horse.

“I took over from Dick Hern and was with him for 14 years, and I always say there was never a day wasted; he was the most brilliant trainer and should have been a schoolteacher, because then we would have passed our exams. He couldn't stand coming to this big meeting and not having a proper winner here; luckily most times he did, but if he didn't, it would be a very quiet journey home. That is where it comes from, and I always think if you have a new owner or a new person coming racing for the first time, bring them here. Bring them to Goodwood and you will sell racing, because it's the most magnificent view here across the Downs. The whole estate is run amazingly well, and I am always proud to come here and do well.

“The Breeders' Cup Mile is a possibility. We know one thing – tactical speed round those tighter tracks is what you have to have. This horse has so much pace; I love watching him. He will work on his own if you wanted him to – he's just a pleasure to be around – but he would have the speed for it, I am sure. There's also Champions Weekend at Ascot. He is in the Prix Jacques Le Marois, but that might come a bit quick for him, we'll have to see. But it is entirely up to Sheikh Hamdan, Richard Hills and Angus Gold and so on. I will come up with a plan but I am sure Sheikh Hamdam will have his say.

“This is pretty special. I always think all my owners want to win the Sussex Stakes, and I want to win it for them.”

Jim Crowley said: “It was sweet. It was a bit of redemption after Royal Ascot. The race today didn't really go to plan as I would have liked. I was quite well marked throughout and Mohaather really got me out of that.

“We went forward today on him and the plan was to sit one off the rail. I didn't think the pace was very strong and then Frankie [Dettori, aboard Wichita] came up on the outside and I ended up following Vatican City and I wasn't in a great pitch all of a sudden.

“I was in a bit of a pocket and I knew I was going to need some luck. I knew I wasn't going to get a run and I knew Siskin was going to play his cards late so my option was to get on the back of him and follow him through.

“We had to let the race unfold before him and then pull around Siskin. When he saw daylight, he just absolutely flew. He showed the most electric turn of foot. To give weight away to younger horses and pick them was just special really.

“I had gone forward in the race and then been taken out of the race and had to go round the field. Obviously giving weight away, I thought that was a very special performance. The way it panned out, he was exceptional.

“You could see why at the start of the year we were contemplating going down the sprinting route with Mohaather. I never had any doubt he could win a Group One over six furlongs. I remember Guy Harwood saying to me that all his good horses could also win over six furlongs and could have won July Cups and things like that – I would say this horse in the mould of some really good horses. He would definitely win over six, he is that good.

“Marcus has done an unbelievable job. You wouldn't meet a nicer man and he has done a great job with this horse to get him back.

“After Royal Ascot, I was gutted and I was gutted for Marcus, but he took it on the chin and I was just so pleased Mohaather could come and do this today. He is a great trainer and it is great to repay him. Marcus has trained some fantastic horses over the years and it is nice to show people that given the right ammunition, he will train Group One winners.

“Royal Ascot ate away at me for a few days and when he won again at Ascot under Dane O'Neill, I was so happy to see him win like that.

“I had ridden him in work in the early part of his career and he had given me a feel that not many horses have done.

“Mohaather is so athletic, a really good-looking horse and he has class. It was the right decision to go down the mile route and he just has so much pace.

“His best form has been on slower ground, but I don't doubt he would be just as good on quicker ground.

“I won this race a few years ago on Here Comes When and it's great to win the Sussex Stakes again. You could say that win was a little bit of a fluke that day whereas we did it properly today.”

Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Siskin (Ger Lyons IRE/Colin Keane) fared best of the 3-year-olds, a further half-length away in third with Newmarket 2,000 Guineas scorer Kameko (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy, 5/1) in fourth, another two lengths adrift.

Placed Quotes

Siskin

Jockey Colin Keane: “It was a brilliant run I thought from Siskin. They went a good, even gallop throughout and my horse travelled into it well and came there to win.

“He just bumped into two older, hardened horses and maybe the ground just being on the slow side blunts his speed a little bit, but we are very happy.”

Trainer Ger Lyons: “I am delighted with the run from Siskin. He is the best three-year-old. He came to win his race and he was outstayed by two older horses. There were no excuses and that is all I asked for coming into the race that we would have no excuses.

“Colin said the ground blunted his speed a bit. One thing we have learned is he is a proper miller and the faster the ground the better. There will be no decisions made, but he probably has Breeders' Cup written all over him.”

Racing Manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, Lord Grimthorpe: “Siskin has run a really good race. We have got absolutely no complaints and he has come out of the race as the best three-year-old miler so that is a positive.

“He has had every chance and run really well so there we are. It was a good race, but he wasn't beaten far. There is always a moment where you think you have a chance. We have no complaints at all.

“We are going to discuss a whole lot of options. We will see how he is and see what Prince Khalid wants to do – there are a number of options for him, all of which are pretty obvious.

“We have got a bit of time to think about it. We will see how he comes out of the race. It was only his second race of the year, so there is still more to come from him.

“We will sit down and come up with a plan and take it from there.”

Kameko

Trainer Andrew Balding: “I have only seen it once with the naked eye and I would have to watch it again, but he looked unlucky. He has finished on the heels of them and Oisin was a bit unlucky on him, but it happens round here.”

Jockey Oisin Murphy: “Kameko jumped very smart. Obviously, I wanted to take a lead and I thought Circus Maximus would make the running. I couldn't find any room up the straight and I felt like the best horse didn't win on the day. Unfortunately, these things happen sometimes and it is jockey error. I hope then horse is sound in the morning and he lives to fight another day. Apologies to his connections. A lot of hard work goes into preparing these horses and nobody wants hard luck stories.

“You saw the way he travelled, and I was full of horse for most of the race. I haven't spoken to Andrew [Balding] or Sheikh Fahad in any depth but I view Kameko very much as a miler.”

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