Honorable Duty 'back and ready' for redemption in Stephen Foster
Honorable Duty joined a list of 55 horses that eventual Horse of the Year Gun Runner defeated in 2017 after finishing second in the Grade I, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap. But trainer Brendan Walsh hopes the 6-year-old can redeem himself in Saturday’s 37th running of the 1 1/8-mile race at Churchill Downs.
“It was tough for anyone to beat Gun Runner last year,” Walsh said. “But, I know this, this year’s field will have to run a good race to beat our horse."
Owned by David Ross’ DARRS Inc, Honorable Duty returned from a 177-day layoff on May 20 to defeat a field of conditioned-allowance horses by five lengths at Churchill Downs under jockey Corey Lanerie.
“We gave him some time off after his sub-par races in the (Oct. 28) Fayette (GII) and (Nov. 24) Clark Handicap,” Walsh said. “We’ve kept him training at Keeneland and he’s done very well there. His allowance race gave us a lot of confidence that the real Honorable Duty is back and ready to return to his top form.”
The gelding by Distorted Humor is a three-time graded stakes winner with victories in the 2017 Mineshaft Handicap (GIII) and New Orleans Handicap (GII) at Fair Grounds and Lukas Classic (GIII) at Churchill Downs.
The Stephen Foster Handicap is the richest of five graded stakes races on Saturday’s special 11-race night racing card that begins at 6 p.m. (all times Eastern). Total purses on the evening are more than $1.4 million, which makes it the most lucrative racing day for horsemen at Churchill Downs outside of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks programs.
The Stephen Foster Handicap field from the rail out: Honorable Duty (ridden by Lanerie, trained by Walsh, 118 pounds, 6-1 morning line odds); Patch (Luis Saez, Todd Pletcher, 116, 10-1); Hawaakom (Brian Hernandez Jr., Wes Hawley, 117, 12-1); Uncle Mojo (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher, 114, 10-1); Matrooh (Santo Sanjur, Cipriano Contreras, 115, 20-1); Backyard Heaven (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Chad Brown, 121, 6-5); Lookin At Lee (Ricardo Santana Jr., Steve Asmussen, 115, 12-1); Irish War Cry (Jose Ortiz, Graham Motion, 119, 5-1); and Pavel (Mario Gutierrez, Doug O’Neill, 117, 5-1).
The Stephen Foster Handicap has been carded as Race 8 at 9:39 p.m. NBCSN will televise the race from 8:30-10 p.m. to launch its 2018 “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series" television schedule. NBCSN’s coverage will be hosted by Laffit Pincay III, who will be joined by analysts Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, as well as reporters Donna Brothers and Britney Eurton.