Code of Honor continues stellar career in Woodward
ELMONT, N.Y. – A multiple Grade 1 winner at 3 and owned by one of the more influential farms in Kentucky, Code of Honor seemed like a prime stallion candidate at the end of 2019 and 2020. As the calendar nears the final quarter of 2021, the 5-year-old Code of Honor remains in training, still looking to add to his glowing résumé.
“The main thing is he’s a very talented horse,” Will S. Farish, owner of Code of Honor as well as the owner and founder of Lane’s End Farm, said Monday by phone from Florida. “We’ve got plenty of stallion power. I felt like we could give him another season and then take him to the farm, so that’s what we’re doing.”
After a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January, Code of Honor was given time off due to bone remodeling. He returned with a solid 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin Handicap last month at Monmouth and is now set to return to Grade 1 competition in Saturday’s $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park.
Code of Honor, a son of Noble Mission, enjoyed a terrific 3-year-old campaign. He won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, finished third (elevated to second via the disqualfication of Maximum Security) in the Kentucky Derby, and won the Grade 3 Dwyer, Grade 1 Travers, and Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, also by disqualification.
Code of Honor went only 1 for 5 last year, with the victory coming in the Grade 3 Westchester. He ended 2020 with runner-up finishes in the Grade 2 Kelso and Grade 1 Clark. In his Iselin victory on Aug. 21 at Monmouth, Code of Honor attained a 105 Beyer Speed Figure.
“He trained into it good, he ran good, he came out of the race good,” trainer Shug McGaughey said Sunday. “He’s trained great since then.”
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Code of Honor completed preparations for the Woodward on Monday, working a half-mile in 49.80 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Vesce. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.40.
Paco Lopez, who rode Code of Honor to victory in the Iselin, will be back aboard him on Saturday.
Farish said the Woodward is not being used as a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar on Nov. 6. Farish said he would prefer not to ship the horse to California. Races like the Grade 1 $750,000 Clark at Churchill Downs on Nov. 26 and then perhaps the Pegasus at Gulfstream next Jan. 29 are potentially in his future.
Code of Honor figures to be among the choices in a Woodward field that is expected to include Art Collector, By My Standards, Dr Post, Forza Di Oro, and Maxfield.