Is this the real To Honor and Serve?

At the top of the stretch it was To Honor and Serve and as they entered the final furlong here came Mucho Macho Man to his flank…but it still was To Honor and Serve. In the final sixteenth of a mile Mucho Macho Man was at his throatlatch, but still To Honor and Serve remained resolute. As they hit the wire, To Honor and Serve prevailed by a hard fought, well-earned neck.

 

The Woodward was supposed to be Mucho Macho Man’s coming out party. The only bad race the late developing son of Macho Uno had run during 2012 was the Alysheba Stakes. There he was third, in his other three starts he had been brilliant.

 

To Honor and Serve, brilliant in last year’s Cigar Mile and in this year’s Westchester was coming off of two straight losses, one of them to Mucho Macho Man. He had an excuse in the Met Mile, but what happened in the Suburban? He ran fourth, with seemingly no excuse. Saturday, however, would not be like his past two outings. Saturday he came back with a vengeance, and not only did he win, he showed that he could dig down and fight back when challenged.

 

Coming out of the Woodward, one has to question just what went wrong earlier this year, and can To Honor and Serve keep on winning? Many would say he’s in consistent, yet he has 8 wins from 15 starts and has only ever finished worse than third three times. Once in the Suburban, where he was fourth, a second time in the Amsterdam, where he finished 6^th going six and a half furlongs, the final time coming in the 2011 Breeders Cup Classic, where he was 7^th. Last year he could have been among many that disliked the peanut buttery mess that was Churchill Down’s main track. One could also argue he also dislikes Belmont. Yes, he won the Westchester, however, who exactly was he facing in that race? Certainly nobody noteworthy, unlike the Suburban and Met Mile. Both of those races contained several of the division's heavyweights.

 

Is he just a horse that likes running in cooler weather, say winter or fall-like climates? He started his Juvenile campaign in September, and ran four times, winning three and running second once. As a three year old he ran twice earlier in the year, however, both starts were in the warm and humid state of Florida. He did run sixth in his return at Saratoga, however, that race was much too short for his liking. In his next two starts he won dominantly, they were an allowance optional claimer, at Saratoga, and the Pennsylvania Derby. He threw a clunker at Churchill, in the Breeders Cup, but so did several other highly esteemed horses. After that he came back to give a scintillating performance in the Cigar Mile. That race had him rated as one of the older males to watch coming into 2012.

 

Now here we are. To Honor and Serve redeems himself in the Woodward Stakes and could very well get another race before the Breeders Cup Championships. Personally, I would hope that if his connections would like to see the colt in the Classic that they aim towards either the Jockey Club Gold Cup or the Awesome Again stakes at Santa Anita, where the Breeders Cup will be held.

 

Should To Honor and Serve win either one of those races, there is no doubt that he would be place right behind Game On Dude in the race for Horse of the Year. Both have finished out of the money once this year, both have one grade one win, both are grade one placed, and both have won at least one other graded stakes. It would be likely that the two would meet in the Awesome Again, should Mott take that route, meaning a win by either would set the stage for a rubber match in the Classic, where the winner there would most likely be crowned Horse of the Year.

 

Can To Honor and Serve live up to the potential and brilliance he has shown on so many occasions? If he can we will be in for one heck of a ride these next couple of months.