Kentucky Derby 2019 Daily: Code of Honor starts anew

Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, which will each day leading up to the May 4 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space.

It’s often said that for a 3-year-old to get to the Kentucky Derby as a true contender, the campaign can’t have any hiccups. And so for the connections of Code of Honor, ideally all of that is in the past ahead of Saturday’s $100,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

The promising debut winner stumbled leaving the gate second out, finishing a runner-up in the Champagne Stakes (G1). He then scratched the morning of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile with a temperature and passed on the Remsen Stakes (G2) when a final work wasn’t up to par.

That run of bad luck hasn’t diminished trainer Shug McGaughey’s hopes.

“He’s got to get through this one,” McGaughey told Gulfstream’s publicity staff this week, “but it sure would be nice if we could get to the Florida Derby if he’s that kind.”

The Hall of Famer took that route in 2013 with his first Derby winner, Orb, one of just two runners he has saddled in the race since 1990. Traditionally, though, if McGaughey shows up with one on the first Saturday in May, it’s because the colt has a chance.

These are early days, however, with Code of Honor, a W.S. Farish homebred by Lane’s End stallion Noble Mission. Jockey John Velazquez will be back in the irons for the colt’s third start overall and first since Oct. 6, when he rallied from last early to finish second in the Champagne.

The closing trip was more a factor of the break than Code of Honor’s preferred running style. On debut Aug. 18 at Saratoga, he went gate to wire in what appears in hindsight a strong six-furlong maiden special weight flight.

So McGaughey knows this one could be special, though he wasn’t seeing it as Code of Honor closed November with a five-furlong breeze over Belmont Park’s training track.

“I could tell, myself, that he didn’t work as well as he had before,” McGaughey said. “Johnny came back and told me, ‘Listen, he worked great, but he didn’t work as good as he did before the Breeders’ Cup.’ After the fact, he said, ‘If I never worked him before I’d tell you it was a really good work, but I had worked him before and he was better before.’

“To take him over there and run him a mile and an eighth over a deep track (in the Remsen Stakes) would have been crazy.”

The Mucho Macho Man, run as a one-turn mile, goes at the same distance as Code of Honor’s last out in Belmont’s Champagne. The race does not award Derby qualifying points but precedes the Holy Bull (G2), Fountain of Youth (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) all also run at Gulfstream.

As the Derby trail continues, “Physically, he needs to develop,” McGaughey said of Code of Honor. “He does well, but he’s a bit slight. I’d like to see him physically get bigger. He has a lot of talent.”

Derby links

Code of Honor’s primary challenge in the Mucho Macho Man may come from Mihos, a horse whose connections bear strong similarity to the 2014 Wood Memorial winner Wicked Strong. Says trainer Jimmy Jerkens: “You have to start making demands on them sooner or later if you’re going to get on the Derby trail.” 

Even-money morning line favorite Coliseum will face six rivals Saturday in the weekend’s Derby points race, the Sham Stakes (G3). Also in the field are Gunmetal Gray, last seen in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, as well as open-lengths maiden winner Gray Magician.

The Daily Racing Form’s David Grening details two likely rivals for Jerome Stakes winner Mind Control in his next race, the Withers Stakes (G3) going 1 1/8 miles next month at Aqueduct.

Going back to December, Epic Dreamer was the horse to beat in Remington Park’s Springboard Mile. And defeated he was. But the Kentucky Derby’s official account provided an inside look at the trip and interviews with trainer Kelly Breen, who plans to regroup with his colt.

The works

Bourbon War — The debut winner of an off-the-turf maiden race, this Mark Hennig trainee then ran fourth by nine lengths in the Remsen Stakes (G2). We’ll see if he remains on dirt moving forward. The Tapit colt posted his third breeze back Thursday, drilling five furlongs in 1:00.86 at Gulfstream Park.

Cornacchia — This gritty debut winner overcame plenty of trouble Dec. 22 at Fair Grounds, where he returned to work Thursday with a half-mile breeze for trainer Brad Cox in 47.80 seconds. This one has the pedigree to go long, but a next race spot isn’t yet known.

Mr. Money — Fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the Goldencents colt is working toward a start in the Jan. 19 Lecomte (G3) for trainer Bret Calhoun. Thursday’s five-furlong drill at Fair Grounds registered the bullet, clocked at 1:00.20.

In case you missed it…

Wednesday’s Derby Daily Report featured an interview with trainer Bob Baffert on how he has come up so loaded with the current crop, plus a look at the latest future odds from William Hill U.S.