Vekoma, Code of Honor take wait-and-see approach to Met Mile

ELMONT, N.Y. – Vekoma, the dominant winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter Handicap, and Code of Honor, the determined winner of the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes, both emerged from their races in good order, but it is far from certain that the two will meet in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on July 4 at Belmont Park.

In the Carter, Vekoma rolled to a 7 1/4-length victory in the slop and earned a career-best 110 Beyer Speed Figure. Trainer George Weaver said the Met Mile is on his radar, but he will obviously monitor the horse to make sure he feels comfortable bringing him back in four weeks off a career-best effort. The Beyer surpassed the 102 figure Vekoma received for winning the Sir Shackleton on March 28 at Gulfstream.

“He ran so big, we just have to see how he’s doing,” Weaver said Sunday morning. “It makes you wonder whether coming back in four weeks in the Met Mile is the ideal situation. I always thought he had a performance like that in him, you just got to be happy he did it. It solidified himself as a pretty nice stallion candidate when that time comes.”

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The Carter was a Win and You’re In race for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint to be run Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Weaver believes Vekoma is best-suited to races from six furlongs to a mile, so the BC Sprint “is a possibility,” he said.

If Weaver opts to skip the Met Mile with Vekoma, a race like the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga could be the next option. The New York Racing Association has yet to release the Saratoga stakes schedule for the meet that begins July 16.

Vekoma, a 4-year-old son of Candy Ride, is owned by Randy Hill and Mike Gatsas.

Meanwhile, Code of Honor persevered past a stubborn Endorsed to win the Westchester by a half-length in his 3-year-old debut. Code of Honor had to go wide most of the way around under John Velazquez and was able to run down Endorsed, who had a rail trip. Code of Honor earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure.

“The horse that was second is a very nice horse and he ran very good, he had pretty much the dream trip and we didn’t,” said Shug McGaughey, trainer of Code of Honor. “Johnny said he didn’t ride real hard because he knew he was coming off a layoff. I expected him to run well, but you always like to him see him do that.”

McGaughey said the Met Mile “is a possibility. The Whitney would be a big possibility.”

NYRA has yet to announce when the Whitney will be run.

McGaughey pointed out how well Code of Honor ran last year with plenty of time between starts. He won the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth off an eight-week layoff, the Grade 3 Dwyer off nine weeks, and the Grade 1 Travers off seven weeks. If the Whitney is Aug. 1, that would be eight weeks between starts.

Code of Honor, a 4-year-old son of Noble Mission, is owned and bred by William S. Farish.

McGaughey hasn’t discounted training Performer up to the Met Mile. He scratched Performer out of Saturday’s Carter due to a minor ankle issue. McGaughey said he planned to begin walking Performer under tack Monday.