Gulfstream Park: Honor Code has big shoes to fill

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Can lightning strike again here this season for Shug McGaughey?

A year ago, McGaughey spent a perfect winter in south Florida with Orb, who won all three of his starts at Gulfstream Park, including both the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby as stepping-stones to his victory in the 2013 Kentucky Derby. He’ll try to duplicate the feat again this winter with his top 3-year-old prospect Honor Code.

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Honor Code is further along at this juncture of his career than Orb, having already become a Grade 2 winner with his game victory over Cairo Prince in the Remsen. He also finished second, beaten a neck by Havana, in the Grade 1 Champagne. Orb won just a maiden race in four starts at 2.

As was the case with Orb a year ago, Honor Code will spend the winter about a 1 1/2-hour drive away from Gulfstream at Payson Park. Honor Code arrived at his new home Dec. 7 after spending several days at the Rood and Riddle Clinic in Lexington, Ky., where he underwent surgery to remove an undescended testicle.

“He’s up at Payson training every day,” said McGaughey. “He’ll probably start breezing around the first of the month. The Fountain of Youth will be our first goal, but I would feel a lot better if I could slip something in somewhere along the line.”

McGaughey acknowledged that Honor Code is much further advanced at this stage than Orb was heading into his 3-year-old campaign.

“Orb’s advancement really started the first of January,” McGaughey said. “I really didn’t even know when we ran him here the first time on Jan. 26 where we stood because I just didn’t think his running style would fit here. But the one thing about last year that helped us was that everything went right for Orb all winter. When we wanted to breeze, we got to breeze. And he loved Payson Park. Whether that will happen again, we’ll have to wait and see.”

McGaughey said that Orb had to improve at a much faster pace last winter than Honor Code will have to this season. Honor Code has already shown improved versatility, having raced close to the pace under Javier Castellano in his Remsen victory after coming from far back in his previous two races.

“Honor Code doesn’t have to do a whole lot of improving from where he’s at now, although obviously he’s got to come around and you’d sure like to see him show some slight improvement as you go along,” McGaughey said. “His current running style is similar to Orb’s, although I think as he continues to learn and run more he’ll start laying closer to the pace. He was close the other day in the Remsen because they went [six furlongs in 1:17]. But Javier said even though they were going slow, he was a much different horse in the Remsen – even going to the post – than in the Champagne – that his mind was much more on the game.”

McGaughey said he also is looking forward to running a couple of his turf stars, Imagining and Abaco, here after the first of the year. Imagining is coming off a couple of long-distance stakes wins at Belmont, the most recent a half-length decision in the Grade 3 Red Smith Handicap. Abaco won the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap at Churchill Downs in her 2013 finale.

“I was very impressed with Imagining’s last race in the Red Smith,” McGaughey said. “Everything he did in that race was perfect.”

Imagining will likely be pointed to the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap on Feb. 8, while Abaco is expected to launch the New Year on Jan. 4 in the Grade 3 Marshua’s River.