Honor Code scores victory in return to racing

Honor Code, who was knocked off the Triple Crown trail by a suspensory injury after one start this year in March, won his return impressively Saturday at Aqueduct and served notice he will be a force to be reckoned with in the older stakes division.

Returning to the scene of his come-again victory in the Remsen 51 weeks earlier, Honor Code broke cleanly and raced well behind the leaders through the early going, as Royal Currier set fractions of 22.29 seconds and 45.22 along the rail.

Honor Code still was far back turning for home but settled suddenly and split horses inside the furlong grounds and set sail after Maleeh, who had slipped through on the rail to open a clear lead while seemingly en route to victory.

But Honor Code ran down Maleeh in the final yards and did not appear fully extended to do so under Javier Castellano. He won by a length after 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:17.33 on a main track that was very dull Friday and somewhat faster Saturday.

Honor Code, a 3-year-old ridgling by A.P. Indy, improved to 3-2-0 from five starts for trainer Shug McGaughey.

Maleeh, the Fred “Cappy” Capossela winner in 2013, also was making his first start since March and finished clearly second best over Monster Mash in the $69,000 optional claimer that carried second-level allowance conditions.