Greatest Honour to Start Next in Fountain of Youth

Courtlandt Farms' Holy Bull Stakes (G3) winner Greatest Honour is scheduled to return in the $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) Feb. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

The Shug McGaughey-trained son of Tapit  broke his maiden in his fourth career start Dec. 26 at Gulfstream before rallying from seventh to draw away by 5 3/4 lengths under Jose Ortiz in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull Jan. 30. He will return at that same distance in the Fountain of Youth.

"I had a lot of confidence that he'd run well, but I didn't know what that meant. I maybe was a little surprised how well he ran and how much he dominated those horses," McGaughey said. "I was very pleased and pleased the way he came out of it."

Greatest Honour, a Courtlandt homebred, launched his career with a pair of closing third-place finishes sprinting at Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park before losing by a head in his first trip around two turns at Aqueduct Racetrack. He completed his juvenile season by breaking his maiden at Gulfstream racing 1 1/16 miles.

"Two turns is a big help. All of his races around two turns have been good," McGaughey said. "I think he'll run as far as a horse wants to run."

McGaughey was impressed with how quickly the bay colt came to hand upon joining his stable last year.

"One of the things about him is that he's a big colt with a distance pedigree, so for him to get to the races at Saratoga shows what an athletic-type horse he is," McGaughey said. "That's a big feather in his cap. One of the things that impresses me is when I saw him in March at Courtlandt Farms, and if you told me that he was going to run right off the bat at Saratoga, he didn't give me that impression. He looked more like a late-fall horse."

Greatest Honour was produced from the Street Cry mare Tiffany's Honour, a half sister to Belmont Stakes (G1) winners Rags to Riches and Jazil.

Getting him to the races did not come without challenges.

"He's no pushover by any means. He had some things about him in his training that we had to get out of him. Being by Tapit, they can be a little difficult at times, and he wasn't an exception to that rule," McGaughey said. "But once we got him going in a forward position, he's taken everything really well. It's interesting how well he acts on race day and in the paddock and those types of things."

McGaughey first won the Fountain of Youth in 2013 with future Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Orb and saddled the race winner again in 2019 with Code of Honor.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) winner Fire At Will is expected to make his seasonal bow in the Fountain of Youth. Drain the Clock, winner of the Claiborne Farm Swale Stakes (G3) Jan. 30 at Gulfstream, could return in either the Fountain of Youth or the March 6 Gotham Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct.