Moreno made 12-1 in Whitney title defense

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though he knows the older male division on the East Coast is stronger than that on the West Coast, trainer Eric Guillot decided to ship Moreno across the country for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.

In fact, the better company is the reason he came.

Moreno is a need-the-lead type who has to be in front of other horses in order to be successful. In California, Moreno has run into cheap-speed horses, denying him the early lead in races like the Californian and Gold Cup, and he was beaten in both.

“If I run in the Pacific Classic, there’ll be three or four cheap horses going 45 [seconds for a half-mile],” Guillot said. “There seems to be a little better class of racing on the East Coast, in my opinion.”

That opinion is backed up by the fact that the Whitney Stakes drew a field of 10 that includes seven Grade 1 winners. It is further backed up by the fact that Moreno, who won last year’s Whitney on the front end at 10-1 odds, was made the 12-1 seventh choice on the morning line. He drew post 5 and will be ridden by Cornelio Velasquez.

Guillot, who arrived in New York from California in time for Tuesday night’s draw at Sperry’s, a downtown Saratoga restaurant, said he believes his horse will be in front of the other speed horse, Liam’s Map, who drew post 4.

“If you’re in front of me, you went too fast,” Guillot said, directing his comment at Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Liam’s Map.

Liam’s Map is 4 for 5 but has yet to run in a graded stakes. He is coming off a front-running, 1 3/4-length victory in a one-mile allowance race at Belmont on June 19. Liam’s Map was made the 6-1 fifth choice. He will be ridden by Mike Smith.

“Ideally, I wish we were drawn outside of [Moreno] with Liam’s Map because Liam’s Map is a pretty fast horse, and he’s a little bit light-mouthed,” Pletcher said. “We just got to let Mike ride his race, and he’ll have to determine it.”

Pletcher also entered Coach Inge, the Brooklyn Handicap winner, who drew post 8 and was made a 15-1 morning-line choice.

Honor Code, the winner of the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, drew the rail and was made the 3-1 morning-line favorite.
Honor Code had an adventurous Sunday morning when he refused to train on the Oklahoma training track but did breeze a half-mile on the main track. On Tuesday morning, trainer Shug McGaughey said Honor Code galloped “as good as one could go.”

Outside of Honor Code, in post-position order and with rider and odds, are: Tonalist (John Velazquez, 4-1), Noble Bird (Shaun Bridgmohan, 5-1), Liam’s Map (Smith, 6-1), Moreno (Velasquez, 12-1), V. E. Day (Junior Alvarado, 8-1), Lea (Joel Rosario, 9-2), Coach Inge (Irad Ortiz Jr., 15-1), Wicked Strong (Luis Saez, 20-1), and Normandy Invasion (Kerwin Clark, 30-1).

The Whitney is a Win and You’re In race for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31. The Whitney will be shown live on NBC in a one-hour broadcast beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.