Breeders' Cup Juvenile: Honor Code will stay home, point for Remsen

ELMONT, N.Y. - Honor Code, runner-up to Havana in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont Park, will skip the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 and train up to the Grade 2, $400,000 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 30, trainer Shug McGaughey said Thursday.

McGaughey said the decision was made Wednesday afternoon following a discussion between himself and Will Farish, managing partner of Lane’s End Racing, which co-owns the colt with Dell Ridge Farm.

“We didn’t want to go all the way to California, run him over a speed-conducive racetrack,” McGaughey said. “I just thought we’d be better off waiting for the Remsen and running him there. Our main objective is next year. I thought getting a two-turn race over at Aqueduct would be better for him. That track is pretty good at that time of the year.”

McGaughey said it was difficult to pass the $2 million Juvenile, a race in which Honor Code would likely have been favored coming off his narrow loss to Havana.

“I wish the circumstances were different,” McGaughey said. “I just don’t think he’s the right horse right now to do that with. He was a little wired right after the race, which was not unexpected, but he was fine the next day. Like I said after the race, our main objective is next year. Time and distance is going to help him.”

The Remsen is run at 1 1/8 miles.