Castellano gets familiar with Code of Honor in advance of Kelso Handicap

ELMONT, N.Y. – Code of Honor worked five furlongs in 1:03.06 on Monday morning over Belmont Park’s main track in preparation for a start in the Grade 2, $150,000 Kelso Handicap here Oct. 3.

Javier Castellano was aboard Code of Honor on Monday morning and will ride him in the Kelso. John Velazquez, Code of Honor’s regular rider, is scheduled to ride Authentic that same day in the Preakness at Pimlico.

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Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch timed Code of Honor’s first three furlongs in 37.44 seconds and had him galloping out six furlongs in 1:16.13. It was Code of Honor’s fourth work since he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 1 at Saratoga.

“He worked fine,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “Like Javier said, ‘I don’t know how fast I went but he went good.’ He looked to me like he was moving awfully well.”

Last year, Code of Honor came into the fall off an authoritative victory in the Grade 1 Travers. He crossed the finish line second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but was placed first after the stewards disqualified Vino Rosso for interference in the stretch. Code of Honor finished the year with a seventh-place finish to Vino Rosso in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

This year, prior to the Whitney, Code of Honor won the Grade 3 Westchester and finished third in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, both one-turn races at Belmont in the summer.

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Though McGaughey is running Code of Honor in the one-mile Kelso, he said, depending on how the horse runs, Code of Honor will be considered for both the Classic and the Dirt Mile.

McGaughey said after Monday’s workout that Code of Honor is “ready to go.”

Castellano “said there was a lot left in the tank, so we’ll see next Saturday,” he said.

Others who have been mentioned for the Kelso include Complexity, Endorsed, and Funny Guy.