The 2-year-old colt Honor Marie never had run in a route or stakes race and his trainer, Whit Beckman, never had won a graded stakes. Neither of those facts held true after Honor Marie made a sustained run from the back of the pack to win the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes late Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.  In a fairly messy race, Honor Marie and jockey Rafael Bejarano stayed out of trouble by keeping to the rear of an eight-horse group of 2-year-olds around the first turn and down the backstretch. Honor Marie caught the eye at the 3/8 pole as he began passing horses and by the top of the long Churchill homestretch, Bejarano switching from an inside path to the outside, his momentum had carried him into contention. It’s a lot to ask for a 2-year-old to sustain a move, especially on dirt, for the better part of a half-mile, but Honor Marie kept on coming down the middle of the track. He whipped past Stretch Ride at the furlong grounds and took the measure of Real Men Violin, who had extricated himself from traffic in upper stretch and was rallying up the rail, to prove much the best.   The KJC is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby and the top five finishers – Honor Marie, Real Men Violin, Stretch Ride, Risk It, and Awesome Road - earned, respectively, 10, 8, 4, 2, and 1 qualifying points toward the 2024 Derby.   :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Off splits of 23.70, 48.45, 1:13.40, and 1:48.01, Honor Marie ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in a solid 1:44.31, the seventh-fastest KJC in the 2000s. Honor Marie paid $19.62 as the sixth choice. Behind Awesome Road in fifth came Dancing Groom, One Red Cent, and early pacesetter Nomos.  Honor Marie received only modest support from bettors owing to his relatively light level of accomplishment. Debuting Sept. 29 at Churchill in a restricted maiden race, Honor Marie rallied from last of nine to win by a head going six furlongs. He returned in a seven-furlong, first-level allowance race on Oct. 29 and came from eighth in a nine-horse field to finish second, beaten four lengths by Otto the Conqueror over a sloppy track.  “We always thought two turns would be where he found his comfort zone,” said Beckman, who trains Honor Marie for Ribble Farms.  Honor Marie deployed tactics in his first two-turn try the same as he had in sprints, quickly dropping back to last after breaking from post 2. Inside him, Awesome Road made a bid just after the break for early position, which trainer Brad Cox thought was essential, but got sawed off by Real Men Violin before the first turn and had only Honor Marie behind him on the bend. Nomos was asked for speed, coming inside a washy Stretch Ride and One Red Cent to pull the field around the turn as Risk It was taken back behind the leading trio.  Risk It seemed fine with his position until he got to the six-furlong pole, where he began trying to make a beeline for points unknown, Tyler Gaffalione pulling with all his might to keep his mount from running off. Meanwhile, Flavien Prat on Awesome Road meandered forward, coming four wide before the half-mile pole to challenge for the lead.   All the while, Bejarano and Honor Marie chilled out at the tail, horse and rider perking up going into the second turn and starting to get serious with three furlongs to run. Real Men Violin was stuck behind the three leaders at the quarter pole before diving to the rail for room, while Honor Marie tipped about six paths off the fence, briefly brushing with Risk It to his inside before passing everyone still in front of him and galloping out like a colt for whom longer trips wouldn’t be an issue.   Honor Marie was purchased as a yearling for just $40,000 and was entered in and withdrawn from Keeneland’s Horses of Racing Age sale earlier this month. The colt is by Honor Code out of Dame Marie, by Smart Strike, a brother to 3-year-old Quaternion, who showed talent early this year at Fair Grounds, which is where Honor Marie will winter.  “We're going to go down to Fair Grounds and take a look-see what we got down there,” Beckman said.  Beckman has been out on his own as a head trainer in America since late in 2021. He won his first stakes race late this summer at Kentucky Downs and has nearly tripled his stable earnings this year compared to 2022. And it looks like he will head into 2024 with a hope for the Kentucky Derby.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.