Code of Honor begins comeback in Westchester, faces in-form Endorsed

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott wasn’t looking to go big-game hunting when he targeted Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Westchester Stakes for Endorsed. But with limited options, Endorsed will find the multiple Grade 1 winner Code of Honor in the same starting gate in the Westchester, one of four stakes on Saturday’s 11-race card at Belmont Park.

“You would preferably like to duck a horse like Code of Honor,” Mott said. “He was probably the second-best 3-year-old in the country last year.”

Indeed. Code of Honor was a four-time graded stakes winner at 3, including Grade 1 victories in the Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup, the latter coming via disqualification. Trainer Shug McGaughey is hoping the Westchester – lengthened this year to 1 1/16 miles from a mile – is a starting point to get to some Grade 1 opportunities later this year for Code of Honor.

Code of Honor is making his first start since last November when he finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the last race of a vigorous eight-race campaign.

“Towards the end of the year, mentally he was in good shape,” said McGaughey, who trains Code of Honor for Will S. Farish. “He learned what he needed to do. I think he’s developed as much physically as he’s going to. I think he had a good break, I think I got a good bottom in him and it’s time to go.”

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John Velazquez rides Code of Honor from post 9.

Endorsed was fourth behind Code of Honor in last year’s Travers before heading to the sidelines. This year, he has sandwiched two allowance wins around a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. In his May 2 allowance win at Oaklawn, his first start for Mott, Endorsed overcame a slow start and a wide trip to win by a half-length.

“I think there were a couple of good horses behind him that day,” Mott said. “There were a couple of horses that wanted to run in the Oaklawn Handicap. He’s a nice horse and I think the distance suits him well.”

Endorsed will break from the rail under Joel Rosario.

Payne, a 5-year-old son of Paynter trained by Chad Brown, makes his stakes debut after going through his conditions last fall and this past winter at Aqueduct. His last loss was a second-place finish behind Performer – entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter.

“It’s a big step up for him. This race definitely came up deeper than I originally planned on when the Westchester was originally scheduled, but I decided to stick with it,” Brown said.

Brown will also run Monongahela, a former Jason Servis trainee who is coming off a neck loss to the Laurel horse-for-course Alwaysmining in the John Campbell on Feb. 15.

“He’s a bit of a grinding horse,” Brown said. “He’s training well. I didn’t see anything that made sense, so with lack of options let’s get a race under his belt and go from there.”

Mihos comes off a solid allowance win at Gulfstream for Jimmy Jerkens. Two horses from that race have come back to win.