Honor Code – Champion Older Male
January 17th, 2016
Owned by Lane’s End Farm and breeder Dell Ridge Farm, the Shug McGaughey-trained Honor Code edged Liam’s Map by a 126-95 margin, the second-closest Eclipse Award race after champion female sprinter.
A well-regarded 2-year-old following a victory in the 2013 Remsen (G2), Honor Code raced sparingly at age 3, making only two starts. He opened his 4-year-old season with a late-running score in the Gulfstream Park H. (G2) on March 7.
The confirmed closer did not fire his best shot recording a disappointing fifth as the favorite in the May 1 Alysheba (G2) at Churchill Downs next time out but Honor Code rebounded with an outstanding tally in the June 6 Met Mile on the Belmont Stakes undercard, surging past a stellar field to win by a resounding 3 ¾-length margin.
The son of A.P. Indy came back two months later to capture the Whitney in dramatic fashion, defeating an ultra-game Liam’s Map by a neck in their only meeting. Honor Code prepped for the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) with a third in the October 3 Kelso H. (G2) and filled the same position at Keeneland in the October 31 Classic.
An earner of $2,518,260 from an 11-6-2-2 career line, the Kentucky-bred Honor Code hails from the stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Serena’s Cat, with his third dam being the mighty Serena’s Song, the champion 3-year-old filly of 1995 and earner of more than $3.2 million.
Javier Castellano, who earned his third straight Eclipse Award on Saturday, served as Honor Code’s regular rider.
Honor Code photo courtesy of NYRA/Susie Raisher/Adam Coglianese Photography
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OLDER DIRT MALE |
|
FIRST-PLACE VOTES |
|
|
|
|
|
HONOR CODE |
|
126 |
|
Liam’s Map |
95 |
|
|
Tonalist |
|
14 |
|
Effinex |
|
12 |
|
Shared Belief |
|
9 |
|
California Chrome |
|
3 |
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