Code Of Honor lands Travers Stakes at Saratoga

Owned by William S. Farish and Lane’s End Farm, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez steered Code Of Honor to what was a convincing three length victory to secure his second success in the $1.25 million contest.

A crowd of 48,213 was present for the 150th running of the Runhappy Travers which saw Code Of Honor, the second favourite behind the Khalid Abdullah-owned Tacitus, break well but content to sit off the pace in ninth under Velazquez as the Bill Mott-trained-trained Tapit took assumed the early lead after an opening quarter-mile.

As the field turned onto the backstretch, it was Mucho Gusto who took the lead by a length, with Tacitus settling into second on the rail and Jim Dandy Stakes winner Tax alongside him.

As the field reached the quarter pole, Tacitus and Mucho Gusto were locked in a battle for the lead after a mile and they stayed together to the eighth pole, when Code of Honor arrived on the scene outside them. After rallying about eight wide, the latter rushed past the duelling leaders and drew off to cross the wire in 2:01.05.

Tacitus, who was moved up to third in the Kentucky Derby and finished a wide second in the Belmont, beat Mucho Gusto, trained by Bob Baffert, for second place by a half-length, adding another runner-up finish to his 2019 résumé that now includes two wins, three seconds, and a third in six starts.

Mucho Gusto’s third placing was one and a quarter lengths ahead of Godolphin’s Endorsed.

Speaking afterwards, McGaughey told Bloodhorse.com: “We wanted to have a summer horse, and this was where I wanted to be and where we got it.

“I was confident that he had a big chance. I had about as much confidence today as I have had in a long time,” he said. “I was confident I couldn’t have done a better job than I had done. It was the best I could do.”

Velazquez added: “I never had any doubts about distance as a problem, just him putting his mind to running.”

“Today, I made sure, when I got him out to the clear, he responded right away, so I was very happy for him. We’ve been looking for this kind of performance for a long time and he’s never really put it together until today.”

The victory took Code Of Honor’s record to four wins from eight starts and earnings of $1,885,820 and it was a third win on the card for Velazquez.

The first success came in the Grade 1 H Allen Jerkens Stakes as the Gregory D Sacco-trained Mind Control won by a nose from Hog Creek Hustle in second and favourite Shancelot only back in third by the same margin.

The middle leg of the day’s treble came in the Grade 2 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa Stakes as Chad C Brown’s Significant Form lived up to its name with victory by a neck from Indian Blessing in second and Starship Jubilee in third.

The predicted matchup in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign came to the fore with Midnight Bisou just denying the multiple Grade 1 winner Elate.

Midnight Bisou, who was making it a sixth win in a row, just denied the unfortunate Elate by a nose and, in the process, gave connections a few nervous moments when waiting for the photo finish result.

Annals Of Time landed his first Graded victory since 2016 when running out a tight winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes. Again it was Brown in the winner’s enclosure as Javier Castellano guided the race favourite home by a neck from Sadler’s Joy in second, with Channel Cat a further two lengths back.

Castellano was also in the saddle to land the Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina Stakes as Come Dancing justified race favouritism in some style. The Carlos F Martin-trained horse came in three and a half lengths clear of Dawn The Destroyer who comfortable took runners-up from Special Relativity two lengths adrift in third.