Code of Honor rallies from last to win Dwyer Stakes convincingly

ELMONT, N.Y. – John Velazquez always believed that once Code of Honor’s mentality caught up to his physicality, he could be a special horse.

That may have happened Saturday at Belmont Park, as Code of Honor, in his first start since being placed second in the Kentucky Derby, rallied from last, split horses adroitly and finished with a flurry to win the Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths.

Final Jeopardy finished second, one length in front of a hard-luck Rowayton, who got stopped while trying to rally along the inside in the stretch. Mihos finished fourth, followed by Majid and Whiskey Echo.

“He has all the tools to be a very, very good horse; he just needs to put it together,” Velazquez said. “Seems like he’s getting there.”

Code of Honor was last early but only five lengths behind Majid, who ran an opening quarter in 23.83 seconds and a half-mile in 47.95, chased by Rowayton.

Irad Ortiz Jr. had Final Jeopardy in third, and he made a three-wide move around the turn, as the leaders were three abreast after six furlongs in 1:12.34. Joel Rosario was trying to find room along the inside for Rowayton, while Velazquez tipped four to five wide turning for home.

Code of Honor rallied inside of Mihos and outside of Final Jeopardy, the latter having taken a brief lead in upper stretch. Despite Velazquez dropping his whip at the eighth pole, Code of Honor finished strong to win going away.

Code of Honor, a son of Noble Mission owned by William S. Farish and trained by Shug McGaughey, covered the mile in 1:35.81 and returned $4.30 as the favorite.

“I think that’s exactly the way he wants to run – sort of drop back out of it a little bit and, depending on the pace, making the one run like that,” McGaughey said. “I thought he was a pretty easy winner today. Johnny dropped the whip, so he couldn’t hit him. Hopefully, we got a horse to come back with. We’ll see what happens down the road.”

Code of Honor added the Dwyer to his victory earlier in the year in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. He finished third in the Florida Derby and was third, placed second after the disqualification of Maximum Security, in the Kentucky Derby.

McGaughey said he would like to run Code of Honor in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 27 and then the Grade 1, $1 million Travers on Aug. 24.

Final Jeopardy, who got a sweet trip under Ortiz, was a length better than Rowayton, who had to alter course after failing to get through along the rail under Rosario.

“You can’t fault him; he rolled the dice,” trainer Don Chatlos Jr. said of Rosario. “If he rolls through there where he thought he could, he would have rolled right on by. He got stopped. It’s a little disappointing, but I’m not one of those guys that’s going to get on a rider. We win together, we lose together.”