Honor Code closes strongly to win Whitney

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Yes, Honor Code can go two turns.

Honor Code, who displayed a devastating late kick to dominate the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap – a one-turn mile – rallied from as far back as 19 1/4 lengths to run down the pacesetting Liam’s Map and win Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney Stakes by a neck at Saratoga.

Liam’s Map, who set blazing early fractions, was second by 1 1/2 lengths over Tonalist. It was 4 1/4 lengths farther back to Wicked Strong in fourth. He was followed by V. E. Day, Lea, Normandy Invasion, Moreno – last year’s Whitney winner – and Noble Bird. Coach Inge scratched.

By adding the Whitney to his Met Mile victory, Honor Code not only can lay claim to being the top older male dirt horse in training, but he joined some exclusive company. Only seven other horses have won the Met Mile and Whitney in the same year: Equipoise (1932), Devil Diver (1944), Tom Fool (1953), Kelso (1961), Criminal Type (1990), In Excess (1991), and Tizway (2011).

After giving Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey his first win in the Met Mile, Honor Code gave him his third Whitney win and his first since Easy Goer won in it in 1989.

“People have always held him in high regard but wondered if he could run around two turns,” said McGaughey, who trains the ridgling son of A.P. Indy for Lane’s End Racing and Dell Ridge Farm. “He’s got some quirks about him; could he overcome them? I guess he answered all that today. I’m glad it’s over with, and I’m glad we won so I don’t have to worry about that part of it.”

In his last two-turn start, the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs, Honor Code didn’t get a hold of the track, according to McGaughey, and finished fourth.

“What people don’t know about that race is he ran the last quarter in 23 [seconds],” McGaughey said. “I don’t know what he ran in today, but he ran pretty fast.”

According to the Trakus chart, Honor Code ran his final three furlongs in 36.13 seconds.

Liam’s Map, making his first start in a Grade 1 race, outsprinted three other horses to the lead and, under Mike Smith, ran an opening quarter in 22.79 seconds and a half-mile in 46.00, with Moreno prompting him at the second call.

Liam’s Map opened up a clear advantage through six furlongs in 1:09.72 and had a 4 1/2-length lead after running a mile in 1:34.66. Inside the eighth pole, Smith hit Liam’s Map once left-handed, and one could see the horse’s head come up.

“I said, ‘I know those horses are going to be coming. Let me go ahead and pop him one time and get another little gear out of him,’ ” Smith, who was riding Liam’s Map for the first time, said. “You know, when I did, he [stopped] – it was a big mistake. It slowed me down. It cost me at least a neck.”

Winning rider Javier Castellano, who had saved ground while trailing the field, had been worried that Honor Code was not giving him everything he had from the quarter pole to the eighth pole.

“At the quarter pole, he didn’t kick on,” Castellano said. “When he got to the eighth pole, he switched leads at the right place, the right time, and he finished unbelievable like he always does.”

Honor Code covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.82. He returned $9.50 as the second choice. Tonalist was the favorite by $5,028.

Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Liam’s Map, said that despite the loss, Liam’s Map “proved he’s an outstanding horse, just lost a tough one.”