McGaughey has Code of Honor right where he wants him

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After Code of Honor finished a disappointing fourth as the odds-on favorite making his 3-year-old debut in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man earlier in the meet, trainer Shug McGaughey decided he needed to get a little tougher on his top Kentucky Derby prospect as the winter progressed. Eight weeks and six works later, the Hall of Fame horseman thinks he’s got Code of Honor right where he needs him for a much-improved effort here Saturday in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

Code of Honor turned in the sixth and final work of the series Monday at Payson Park, where he eagerly breezed four furlongs in 49.60 seconds before galloping out five-eighths in 1:02.35.

“We just blew him out this morning in 49 and 3,” McGaughey said. “He was in the bridle, and everybody seemed to be pleased with it. I was a little afraid to train him too hard before his last race, but we’ve stepped things up since then, and he seems to really have been taking it well. Three of his works have been five furlongs, and he’s appeared to get better with each one. Not only energy-wise – he’s gotten a lot more aggressive – but both physically and mentally, too. Johnny [Velazquez] worked him a couple of times, and he’s been very positive with what’s going on, just like I’ve been.”

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McGaughey is hoping there will be enough pace in the Fountain of Youth to flatter Code of Honor’s running style. The son of Noble Mission rallied from 10th to finish second behind Complexity in the Grade 1 Champagne in his 2-year-old finale, although he flattened out late after making a middle move to close contention in the Mucho Macho Man.

“He doesn’t really have the running style for this racetrack, but that’s going to be his style,” McGaughey said. “He just needs to wait and then I want to see him finish and move forward off his last start. That’s all we can ask for.”

The Fountain of Youth lineup likely gained one certain starter while losing a second Sunday.

Trainer Stanley Hough said he is inclined to run his lightly raced and undefeated Global Campaign in the Fountain of Youth after he worked five furlongs in company in 1:01.60 on Sunday at Palm Meadows.

“He went in company with He Hate Me, and the work went just as planned, the way we wanted it to go,” Hough said. “They went off in 13 and picked it up as they went along and galloped out good. He worked well last week by himself, but sometimes he gets lost out there when by himself, so I wanted to give him some company today.”

Hough said the Fountain of Youth is definitely in play if things go well this week.

“I don’t know how many there are going to be in there. I would like to get a decent post, and I don’t want to run on a sloppy racetrack, but I would like to run here if we could,” Hough said. “I’ll probably enter and see how he’s doing coming out of the work, but he’ll definitely be prepared to run if that’s what we decide to do.”

Meanwhile, Maximus Mischief, a dull third as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Holy Bull in his 3-year-old debut, will be sidelined indefinitely after being diagnosed with an undisclosed injury shortly after working an uninspiring half-mile in 49.04 under jockey Jose Ortiz on Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

“He didn’t come out of the breeze well,” trainer Robert “Butch” Reid said. “We weren’t happy with the way he pulled up and even though he cooled out okay, after going over him with our vet it looks like he’s going to need a substantial amount of time off.”

Entries for the Fountain of Youth, along with the rest of Saturday’s card, will be drawn Wednesday. As of Monday, a field of at least eight was expected for the Fountain of Youth, a stellar group that along with Code of Honor and Global Campaign figures to include Bourbon War, Hidden Scroll, Signalman, Union’s Destiny, Vekoma, and the Dale Romans-trained pair of Admire and Everfast.