2019 Eclipse Awards: Code of Honor

Owing to a promising 2-year-old campaign in which he finished second in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes in his second and final start, much was expected from Code of Honor coming into his 3-year-old year. So when he belly flopped in his 2019 debut in the Mucho Macho Man, finishing fourth of six at 4-5, questions understandably were raised about whether he had progressed from 2 to 3.

Code of Honor spent the rest of the year more than making up for that initial setback. The two Hall of Famers in his corner – trainer Shug McGaughey and jockey John Velazquez – worked in partnership, with McGaughey training Code of Honor harder, and Velazquez utilizing a patient, one-run approach on race day that he had honed each week in morning drills.

By year’s end, Code of Honor had proven to be one of the best of his class, with multiple Grade 1 victories, including via disqualification against elders in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, and a deserved place as a finalist for champion 3-year-old male.

:: Full list of 2019 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

The work that McGaughey and Velazquez put in with Code of Honor bore fruit in his second start of the year, two months after the Mucho Macho Man, when Code of Honor won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, the first of four graded stakes victories he recorded in 2019.

Code of Honor’s running style often put him at the mercy of pace, and a dawdling pace did him no favors in the Florida Derby, in which he finished third. But he subsequently turned in a courageous effort in the Kentucky Derby, in which he crossed the wire third and then was promoted to second following the disqualification of fellow divisional finalist Maximum Security. Code of Honor rallied gamely up the rail, despite having to briefly proceed with caution owing to his wayward rival.

Back in New York for the summer and fall, Code of Honor reached the peak of his form. He won the Grade 3 Dwyer, then scored his first Grade 1 victory in the prestigious Travers, beating 11 rivals.

Nothing in 2019 could compare to the heated debate following the Kentucky Derby, but the Jockey Club Gold Cup would be second on the controversy cold-punch exacta. Code of Honor battled with the older Vino Rosso through the stretch, lost the race by a nose, but was placed first by the stewards owing to being ruled to have been bumped significantly through the lane.

In an attempt to put him in play for Horse of the Year, Code of Honor was sent west for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but he struggled over the sandy surface at Santa Anita and turned in his worst performance of the year, finishing seventh of 11.

That last misstep should not detract from the many high marks he had in 2019. More should be in store for 2020, as Code of Honor – a William S. Farish homebred colt by Noble Mission out of the Dixie Union mare Reunited – is remaining in training at age 4.