Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey breezed two-time Grade 1 winner Code of Honor over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday morning in his first work since running third in the Grade 1 Runhappy Met Mile on July 4 at Belmont Park.
Owned by William S. Farish, the 4-year-old chestnut son of Noble Mission went five furlongs in company with stable mate and first-level allowance winner Creed, with both horses completing their moves in 1:01.93.
McGaughey plans on running Code of Honor in the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney on August 1.
“They both worked excellent,” McGaughey said. “Code of Honor worked really, really well, I was really pleased. I was just looking to do a little something with Creed.”
McGaughey said that the Grade 2, $150,000 Jim Dandy on September 5 would be a target for Creed. Owned by Edward J. Hudson, Jr. and Lynne Hudson, the son of second-crop stallion Honor Code broke his maiden by 7 ¾ lengths on June 11 at Belmont Park before defeating winners over Big Sandy on July 2. Creed was purchased for $650,000 from the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
In the Met Mile, Code of Honor was a late-closing third, finishing a 1 1/2 lengths to Vekoma.
McGaughey believes that Code of Honor, winner of last year's Grade 1 Runhappy Travers and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, is more suited for the Whitney's 1 1/8-mile distance.
“He didn't get the best trip,” McGaughey said of the Met Mile. “Two turns is better for him, especially now that he's older, but I thought he ran really well. They went really fast, he had a wide trip. The winner had a dream trip over a speed-favoring track, so I thought it was all good.”
Code of Honor will attempt to become the first horse to win the Travers and the Whitney since Medaglia d'Oro did so respectively in 2002 and 2003. McGaughey will go for his fourth Whitney triumph having saddled Honor Code (2015), Easy Goer (1989) and Personal Ensign (1988) to victory.
A Kentucky homebred, Code of Honor is out of the graded stakes-winning Dixie Union broodmare Reunited.
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