Who can beat Greatest Honour in the Florida Derby?
Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby is expected to be just another step on the trail for Greatest Honour as he marches towards the starting gate on the first Saturday in May as one of the favorites for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
The son of Tapit looks to be a very deserving heavy favorite in the 9-furlong test. Trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Shug McGaughey, Greatest Honour has done everything right since arriving in South Florida. Beginning with a maiden race in late December, and then the Holy Bull (G3) and the Fountain of Youth (G2), the bay colt has dominated the racing scene at Gulfstream Park.
In each of his three victories, Greatest Honour has uncorked a late punch that has dominated his competition. His effortless acceleration has proven irresistible to any horse temporarily standing in his way in the stretch. Clearly, he is a 3-year-old colt of quality and one that from all appearances will only get better as the distances increase. In short, he figures to be very tough to beat in the Florida Derby.
Still, they have to run the race, and the Florida Derby will not be short of challengers to the big favorite. Among Greatest Honour’s chief challengers in the $750,000 race will be a gaggle of well-bred colts with varying degrees of experience
Spielberg is the most seasoned of the bunch. From the powerhouse barn of trainer Bob Baffert, who has not been shy in stacking up Kentucky Derby prep wins across the country of late, this son of Union Rags already has run in six graded stakes races. He has only one victory among them, but the winner of last year’s Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) comes in off a promising second behind the undefeated champion Essential Quality in last month’s Southwest Stakes (G3).
On the other end of the experience spectrum are Collaborate and Soup and Sandwich, and both carry the potential to be any kind. The former is a son of Into Mischief who broke his maiden impressively just three weeks ago. After rallying reasonably well in a sloppy sprint debut, the Saffie Joseph Jr. runner came back to dominate a one-mile race over the Gulfstream track by better than a dozen lengths.
Soup and Sandwich, meanwhile, is undefeated in two starts for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Also a son of Into Mischief, this gray colt easily handled his maiden competition while facing fellow Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28 before easily dispatching of allowance company at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 24.
Sire Union Rags joins Into Mischief with two Florida Derby contenders, as he also will be represented by the Bill Mott-trained Nova Rags. A rallying winner of his debut last fall at Belmont Park, he was not quite ready for prime time when fourth in last year’s Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct but has rebounded well with a pair of good efforts at Tampa Bay Downs. First, he rallied to win the 7-furlong Pasco Stakes then ran on well in the stretch to finish second in the Sam F. Davis (G3) behind Candy Man Rocket.
Finally, you have the last horse to actually have finished ahead of Greatest Honour. His name is Known Agenda, and he might prove to be the toughest competition of the bunch. Their paths crossed last November at Aqueduct while both horses were still maidens, and it was Known Agenda who came out on top in a spirited stretch battle.
Since then, each has run three races, and without question it is the runner-up of that strong maiden race that has pushed toward stardom. Known Agenda, though, looks to be back on track for trainer Todd Pletcher. Following a pair of disappointing results in stakes competition, the talented son of Curlin made his local debut last month in an allowance at Gulfstream Park and looked the part of a colt putting things together. The 11-length romp at 9 furlongs should have him ready for the big challenge on Saturday.
There are interesting challengers, but in the end, it might be only a question of whether Greatest Honour runs his race. If he can keep the form going that he demonstrated in his last three, Saturday’s Florida Derby could be a foregone conclusion. Then again, this is horse racing and anything can happen.