Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Honor Code might be favored despite loss

“The Best is Yet to Come” is not only the mantra for the Breeders’ Cup, it is exactly what trainer Shug McGaughey thinks when he looks at his 2-year-old Honor Code.

What decision has yet to come from McGaughey is whether the best thing to do for Honor Code is to ship him cross-country for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita.

Despite running second to Havana in Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park, Honor Code might go favored in the Juvenile if his connections decide to run. Well off the pace and forced to rally eight wide in the stretch, Honor Code was beaten a neck by Havana in the Champagne.

McGaughey said Honor Code came out of the race in good order, and he would wait a few days and talk with Will Farish of Lane’s End about future plans. If they opt to skip the Breeders’ Cup, possible starts include the Nashua and/or the Remsen at Aqueduct or the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

While McGaughey said he believes two turns will be better for Honor Code, he’s not sure the speed-favoring nature of Santa Anita will agree with his late-running colt.

“It’s more of a speed-favoring track than here,” McGaughey said. “We’ll play all the variables and make a decision. We want to have a nice 3-year-old. Him being a [son of] A.P. Indy, the future is in front of him.”

Havana, a son of Dunkirk, gave trainer Todd Pletcher his third Champagne victory in the last four years. Shanghai Bobby (2012) and Uncle Mo (2010) both won the BC Juvenile after winning the Champagne. Havana, like Uncle Mo, was stretching out from a sprint race to one mile in the Champagne. While Uncle Mo won the Champagne more impressively than Havana, Pletcher said he feels Havana could take a step forward in the Juvenile.

“I think there’s room for improvement,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher picked up another starter for the Juvenile in We Miss Artie, who won the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland to earn a fees-paid berth to the Juvenile. We Miss Artie, a son of Artie Schiller, has never raced on dirt, but Pletcher said the horse was training well over the dirt surface at the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. We Miss Artie will ship from Kentucky to California in time to get a breeze or two over the dirt surface at Santa Anita.

“If he breezes on the dirt there the way he’s been breezing on it at Saratoga … I think the Juvenile dirt is probably the race for him,” Pletcher said.

There are a number of fringe players for the Juvenile. Trainer Bill Gowan said the Juvenile “is definitely a thought” for Champagne third-place finisher Ride On Curlin, though he added, “It’s a long way to ship with no one paying your expenses.”

Ami’s Holiday, the winner of Sunday’s Grey Stakes at Woodbine, also is under consideration, according to trainer Josie Carroll, though the Coronation Futurity at Woodbine on Nov. 17 is more likely.

Trainer Bob Baffert said he is still considering New Year’s Day, a maiden winner at Del Mar, and Can the Man, fourth in the FrontRunner Stakes, for the Juvenile.

Mexikoma, a private purchase by Team Valor International after a 14 1/2-length maiden win at Delaware, has not been ruled out of Breeders’ Cup consideration, according to Team Valor President Barry Irwin.