McKinzie Faces Code of Honor in Breeders' Cup Classic

The two biggest contests at Saratoga Race Course this summer have set the table for a Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) showdown between the country's most consistent handicap horse, McKinzie, and a 3-year-old hitting his best stride in Code of Honor.

While those divisions struggled a bit to generate stars—standouts like Bricks and Mortar on turf and distaffer Midnight Bisou are both enjoying undefeated seasons—Saratoga served as a showcase for McKinzie and Code of Honor.

In the Aug. 3 Whitney Stakes (G1), McKinzie delivered a clear victory over grade 1 winners Yoshida  and Vino Rosso , giving trainer Bob Baffert his first score in that historic race.

Three weeks later at Saratoga, trainer Shug McGaughey's summer plan for Code of Honor came together when the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner-up scored by three lengths in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1).

Now they'll each bring impressive résumés into the 1 1/4-mile Classic Nov. 2 at Santa Anita Park, where they'll meet for the first time.

In his past seven starts, racing exclusively in grade 1 and grade 2 races, McKinzie—owned by Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman—has finished first or second. In perhaps a positive omen for his connections, the 4-year-old son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense  has settled into a pattern since the spring where he wins every other race, and he'll enter off a runner-up finish to Mongolian Groom in the Sept. 28 Awesome Again Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita.

Baffert looks to win the Classic with an older horse for the first time after winning the race three consecutive years beginning in 2014 with 3-year-olds Bayern , American Pharoah , and Arrogate . Baffert noted that while McKinzie doesn't feature some of that early explosiveness, he most assuredly is a special talent.

"McKinzie is a different style—a big, tall, lanky horse. This horse is not real quick early. He's just a steady, high-cruising type of horse," said Baffert, who leads all trainers in Breeders' Cup earnings. "I think he's one of the top 10 horses I've trained, but he's going to have to prove it—no excuses. We'll see what he's made of."

William S. Farish's homebred Code of Honor followed his Travers victory with a score against older horses when he was put up in the Sept. 28 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park when Vino Rosso, who finished a nose in front of Code of Honor, was disqualified for interference. The victory marked the third straight win—and second straight at 1 1/4 miles—for Code of Honor, a son of Noble Mission  who returned from a break after the Derby to post a decisive victory in the July 6 Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Belmont.

For McGaughey, the three-race winning streak in New York marked a plan coming together in spectacular fashion. What had not been at the forefront of his plans was a trip to the West Coast for the Breeders' Cup, but his horse's performance won him over.

"I've been impressed with the way he's come out of his races, especially the Travers, and then the Gold Cup," McGaughey said. "I had a lot of confidence going into the Travers and going into the Gold Cup; I just didn't know how he would step up against the older horses in the Gold Cup. Then after the way he did it, and the way he came out of it, I thought he deserved a chance."

McGaughey said Code of Honor continues to thrive in the mornings, although the Hall of Fame trainer acknowledges he'll face new challenges.

"A lot of times, going from East to West on the dirt hasn't worked out, but this horse seems to adapt pretty well, so we'll have to see," McGaughey said. "It is a little bit of a different ballgame."

While Code of Honor and McKinzie will renew the Classic's "3-year-old vs. older horse" storyline, this year's race will feature the added wrinkle of multiple grade 1-winning mare Elate taking on males. Ten years after Zenyatta became the first and only female to win the Classic, trainer Bill Mott sees potential for the 5-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro  who is perfect at the 1 1/4-mile distance.

"I think there's a lot of upside for her to run in the Classic," Mott said. "She's 3-for-3 at the distance. She's never been beaten at a mile and a quarter. I think we just want to give it a try. She's run well against the girls, and we're willing to take on the challenge of running against the boys, particularly at that distance."

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's homebred Elate enters off a runner-up finish to Blue Prize in the 1 1/8-mile Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 6 at Keeneland. In looking at speed figures, Mott believes Elate's best efforts are comparable to the males she'll face Nov. 2, but the distance is the main motivator to try the Classic.

"I think it's important with any horse to try to figure out what their favorite distance is and their favorite surface," Mott said. "I think everything comes together for her on the main track. The mile and a quarter—I think that's a great distance for her." 

Elate isn't the only runner capable of winning should they run their best. Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's Vino Rosso returns to Santa Anita, where in May the 4-year-old son of Curlin  won the Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (G1). One year after winning the Classic with Accelerate , trainer John Sadler and owner Hronis Racing are back with Higher Power, who two starts ago rolled to a 5 1/4-length score in the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.

Yoshida, a grade 1 winner on turf and dirt, will look to improve on his fourth-place finish in last year's Classic. He enters off a third-place finish in the Woodward Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), with Mott saying he likes that the son of Heart's Cry will be fresh. Charles Fipke homebred Seeking the Soul, a grade 1 winner, won this year's Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) and will try the Classic after finishing second in last year's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). 

Math Wizard and Mongolian Groom figure to be longshots, but both secured upset grade 1 wins in their previous starts, the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) and Awesome Again Stakes, respectively. The field also includes this year's Preakness Stakes (G1) first- and third-place finishers, War of Will and Owendale.

Entries: Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, November 02, 2019, Race 12

• Grade I
• 1 1/4m
• Dirt
• $6,000,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 5:44 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Math Wizard (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	122	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	30/1
2	2Seeking the Soul (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	126	Dallas Stewart	20/1
3	3Owendale (KY)	Javier Castellano	122	Brad H. Cox	15/1
4	4War of Will (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Mark E. Casse	20/1
5	5Yoshida (JPN)	Mike E. Smith	126	William I. Mott	8/1
6	6Elate (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	123	William I. Mott	6/1
7	7Higher Power (KY)	Flavien Prat	126	John W. Sadler	6/1
8	8McKinzie (KY)	Joel Rosario	126	Bob Baffert	3/1
9	9Mongolian Groom (KY)	Abel Cedillo	126	Enebish Ganbat	12/1
10	10Vino Rosso (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	126	Todd A. Pletcher	4/1
11	11Code of Honor (KY)	John R. Velazquez	122	Claude R. McGaughey III	4/1