Ohana Honor in good spot for first stakes score
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Ohana Honor, still in search of his first career stakes victory, may be well-spotted to finally get it when he runs against seven rivals in Saturday’s $150,000 Knickerbocker Stakes at Aqueduct.
Ohana Honor, a 5-year-old ridgling by Honor Code trained by Shug McGaughey, will be making just his third start of the year in the Knickerbocker, scheduled for 1 1/8 miles over the outer turf course. On Aug. 28, Ohana Honor came off a 10-month layoff to finish second in the $500,000 Tapit Stakes at Kentucky Downs, a mile and 70-yard race that produced three next-out winners and four horses who ran second in their subsequent starts.
Ohana Honor came out of the Tapit to finish fourth, beaten three lengths by Desvio, in the Grade 2 Sycamore going 1 1/2 miles on Oct. 10 at Keeneland.
“He’ll run that far, but with one race off a layoff, it was probably a bit too much,” McGaughey said. “He’s been training pretty aggressively. I think he’ll be fine going a mile and an eighth in the Knickerbocker.”
Ohana Honor has run well from a mile to 1 1/2 miles. In 2024, he finished second in the Grade 2 Man o’ War at 1 3/8 miles at Aqueduct before dead-heating for third with Far Bridge in the Grade 1, 1 3/16-mile Manhattan that June at Saratoga.
Getting the mount from post 4 is Flavien Prat, who was aboard for Ohana Honor’s last win in a 1 1/2-mile Keeneland allowance in April 2024.
Air Recruit, as a 2-year-old in 2023, won the Laurel Futurity and finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He missed his entire 3-year-old season with a soft-tissue injury, according to trainer Arnaud Delacour. He returned to the races in July and won an allowance at Colonial Downs and the Oceanport Stakes at Monmouth Park in August. He came back four weeks later and finished ninth in the Grade 3 Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs.
“His last performance at Kentucky Downs was so-so,” Delacour said. “It’s a special track. I thought he was going to probably be a bit closer to the pace. It didn’t really work out, but he came back in great shape. He’s going to have to step up a little bit for sure.”
Dylan Davis rides Air Recruit from post 7.
Trikari won the Grade 1 Belmont Derby here in July 2024. He is winless in four starts this year and was beaten in an allowance here Oct. 17, but trainer Graham Motion was pleased with that effort.
“I thought he ran a decent race. He was coming off a layoff, had a testicle removed, so he missed a little bit of time. I was happy with him,” Motion said.
Antonio Arriaga has recent claims Dear Dad and Fuerteventura in the field. Completing the lineup are Naptown, Ohio Joe, and Signator, claimed from McGaughey for $100,000 by owner Sandy Goldfarb and trainer Panagiotis Synnefias.
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