Honor A.P. under spotlight in second start

ARCADIA, Calif. – Honor A.P. finished with such interest in a maiden special weight race for sprinters at Del Mar on Aug. 17 that he quickly drew attention as a 2-year-old to follow.

Sunday at Santa Anita, Honor A.P. will be favored to justify the hype when he starts in a maiden race at a mile against nine rivals.

Trained by John Shirreffs for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable, Honor A.P. will be ridden by Mike Smith, who was aboard on Aug. 17. Honor A.P. finished 2 1/2 lengths behind Ginobili, who has since finished fourth in two stakes – the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on dirt on Sept. 2 and the Speakeasy Stakes at five furlongs on turf on Oct. 6.

Honor A.P., by Honor Code, impressed Shirreffs with how he finished, closing from 10th in the final quarter mile.

“He hasn’t been two turns, but you hope he can,” Shirreffs said. “When he found his stride, he got into gear and finished well.”

Honor A.P. will start from post 3. The competition is led by Defense Wins, who was third in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 2 and sixth in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 27, won by Eight Rings.

Trainer Bob Baffert starts Eel Point, who was fourth by 10 lengths behind Great Power in a maiden special weight race at 6 1/2 furlongs on Sept. 29 in his debut.