Code of Honor Returns in Iselin at Monmouth Park

It's not so much a new and improved version of Code of Honor  who will make his return to the races in the Aug. 21 Philip H. Iselin Stakes (G3), trainer Shug McGaughey said, as it is a more mature one.

Idle since a fifth-place finish on Jan. 23 in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park, Code of Honor heads a field of seven for the $250,000 Iselin, the feature on Monmouth Park's 14-race card.

With those seven months off, McGaughey said the 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner-up and the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) winner is now all grown up.

"We gave him a good amount of time off, and he has come back strong and he has been training really well at Saratoga," he said. "I'm looking forward to running him on Saturday.

"He has grown up quite a bit physically with the time off. He was a late foal (May 23) so we were always kind of playing catch up with him. I think he is all caught up now."

Kentucky-bred Code of Honor, now 5, looms large over his six rivals for the 1 1/16-mile Iselin. He has won two grade 1s (the 2019 Travers and the 2019 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes) and five of his six career wins have been in graded stakes. Overall, the W. S. Farish homebred is 6-for-16 with four seconds and two thirds. His career earnings stand at $2,731,320.

"It wasn't a body maturity thing with him," said McGaughey. "He was always doing fine. Being a late foal it just took him a little time to catch up. That's the best way I can explain it."

Code of Honor's 2020 campaign started with a victory in the Westchester Stakes (G3) but failed to produce another win in four races after that. But he was third in the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1), second in the Kelso Handicap (G2), and second in the Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1).

"It wasn't a frustrating year but it wasn't exactly what we hoped for after it started out with a win," said McGaughey. "That's why I'm looking forward to running him again with the time off we gave him. He was so close last year. Maybe this year will be the year for him."

By Noble Mission  out of the Dixie Union  mare Reunited , Code of Honor has proven he can run well fresh, so McGaughey doesn't have any concerns about the lengthy layoff.

"He won his first start. And when he was a 3-year-old he ran in the Dwyer (G3) on July 6 at Belmont and then didn't run again until the Travers on Aug. 24," McGaughey said. "So I think fresh is good for him."

Code of Honor finished third in the 2019 Kentucky Derby but was elevated to second with the disqualification of Maximum Security  . He was also second but placed first due to interference in the 2019 Jockey Club Gold Cup after finishing a nose behind Vino Rosso  , that year's eventual Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner.

Paco Lopez, seemingly on his way to an eighth Monmouth Park riding title with 60 wins compared to second-ranked Jose Ferrer with 38 wins as of Aug. 19, has the mount.

The rest of the Iselin field consists of West Will Power , Croatian , I'm a G Six , Magic Michael , Phat Man , and Brice .

Entries: Philip H. Iselin S. (G3)

Monmouth Park, Saturday, August 21, 2021, Race 9

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:03 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1West Will Power (KY)	Nik Juarez	118	Kelly J. Breen	4/1
2	2Croatian (KY)	Heriberto Figueroa	118	Wayne Potts	20/1
3	3I'm a G Six (KY)	Romero Ramsay Maragh	118	Aubrey A. Maragh	15/1
4	4Magic Michael (KY)	Ruben Silvera	118	Jamie Ness	5/1
5	5Code of Honor (KY)	Paco Lopez	118	Claude R. McGaughey III	6/5
6	6Phat Man (KY)	Jose C. Ferrer	122	J. Kent Sweezey	3/1
7	7Brice (KY)	Isaac Castillo	118	Jerry Hollendorfer	6/1