Code of Honor confirmed to run in the Breeders' Cup Classic

Code of Honor, the multiple Grade 1-winning 3-year-old colt placed atop the running order in last Saturday's Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), will proceed to the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Trainer Shug McGaughey said Wednesday a decision has been made after seeing the son of Noble Mission "came out of the race good."

"When we were talking about it back in the summer, he's a little bit of a different horse now," said McGaughey, who all along seemed to prefer keeping Code of Honor in New York, or resting the colt up for his 4-year-old campaign.

Then W. S. Farish's homebred beat some of his generation's best in the Travers (G1). He followed up by hitting the wire a nose behind the older Vino Rosso in the Jockey Club Gold Cup before stewards reversed the order due to Vino Rosso's drift out in the stretch.

"We're going to give him some time off after," McGaughey said, "but if we stop right now, it would be six months before we run again. He doesn't need that much time.

"We kind of put all the variables together. To run for that much money, and he's a 'Win and You're In,' so it doesn't cost anything to run, that's where my decision came from."

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will retain the mount.

Code of Honor may also be competing for the 3-year-old Eclipse Award given Maximum Security's expected absence from the Classic due to a recent bout of colic that left him sidelined.

"I don't think there's any doubt, he would be the 3-year-old champion unless people don't know what they're doing -- which a lot of them don't," McGaughey said. "Horse of the Year, if we were to win, might be in the talk, too."

Code of Honor came in at No. 2 behind McKinzie in this week's Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings, a poll of industry experts listing their top contenders for the $6 million race set for Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park.

Also this season, Code of Honor won the Fountain of Youth (G2), was placed second in the Kentucky Derby and returned from the Triple Crown series to take the Dwyer Stakes (G3) around one turn.