Code of Honor rebounds to win Fountain of Youth Stakes 2019

Code of Honor's flat fourth in his season debut led Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey to ramp up the colt's training in recent weeks, and the move paid off Saturday when the W.S. Farish homebred roared past odds-on favorite Hidden Scroll to win the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes.

Under jockey John Velazquez, the son of Noble Mission remained near the rail while running from the inside post and had held off a rallying Bourbon War by 3/4 of a length in the 2019 Kentucky Derby prep.

Code of Honor's final time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.85.

With the victory, McGaughey, who won the 2013 Derby with Orb, has qualified for this year's renewal set for May 4. The Fountain of Youth awarded points on a 50-20-10-5 basis to the Top 4 finishers.

Running first time with Lasix and off a layoff stretching back to November, Vekoma hit the wire third with hype horse Hidden Scroll fourth after dashing to the early lead and setting fractions of 22.80 and 45.69 before tiring.

"They were going too fast up front," Velazquez said, "and I was comfortable where I was...We put a lot of work in him, and he showed today what kind of horse he is."

Hidden Scroll faced a short run to the first turn and battled initially with longshot Gladiator King before putting that one away into the turn. Global Campaign, previously 2-for-2, sat in the pocked but offered no late run. It was those coming from farther back who wound up taking the top spots.

Other notables in the field of 11: Global Campaign (fifth), Signalman (seventh) and Everfast (eighth).

McGaughey said the March 30 Florida Derby is his "first pick" of final Derby preps for Code of Honor.

The colt made just his fourth career start Saturday when off at 9-1. He debuted a Saratoga winner on Aug. 18 and came back to finish second in the Champagne (G2) when away from the gate awkwardly.

"He's been kind of a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde sort of horse," McGaughey said. "He started out good. The Champagne was good. Then he got sick and all that kind of stuff. Today, it all sort of came to fruition, so we're pleased."

Scratched the morning of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Code of Honor returned Jan. 5 in Gulfstream Park's Mucho Macho Man. Again, he failed to establish early position and didn't factor.

That changed in the Fountain of Youth.

"It kind of went the way we'd scripted," McGaughey said. "We had the one pole, save some ground, stayed patient. He left there running today. I was sitting there with my wife. I said he left there running. What's that mean? I don't know, but Johnny did a good job of being patient with him, and we're really pleased."