Code of Honor Faces Five Rivals in Woodward at Belmont

It was two years ago that Code of Honor  ran in a grade 1 fall stakes at Belmont Park in preparation for a trip west to the Breeders' Cup.

A scenario with some of those elements, but not a lot of them, will take place Oct. 2 when Will Farish's 5-year-old Code of Honor will make his 18th career start.

He will once again be running in a grade 1 fall stakes at Belmont Park, but this time it's the $500,000 Woodward Stakes (G1) at 1 1/8 miles as an older horse instead of the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) as a 3-year-old facing older horses for the first time.

And, though the Breeders' Cup will again be contested on the West Coast in November, the World Championships at Del Mar may not be in his future. Pending what happens in Saturday's race, Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey's current inclination is to send the homebred son of Noble Mission  to Kentucky for the Nov. 26 Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) at Churchill Downs, which he finished second in last year and could be a springboard to the rich grade 1 tests early in 2022.

"Let's get through this one on Saturday first, but my preference would be to run in the Clark as opposed to the Breeders' Cup and going out there (to California) and running on dirt he's not used to and the horses stabled out there are used to it," said McGaughey, who shipped Code of Honor west to finish a dull seventh in the 2019 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park. "I think if he stays in form the owners would be more than eager to keep racing him into the start of next year."

Given all of that, the Woodward, which had been contested at Saratoga Race Course and basically switched spots on the stakes calendar with the Jockey Club Gold Cup, promises to play a big role in determining Code of Honor's future as he attempts to regain his status among the top horses in training.

Going into the 2019 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Code of Honor had won the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) and when his number was put up in the win spot via disqualification in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the future seemed extremely bright for him. But since then, his only win in his next seven starts was a victory in the 2020 Westchester Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park, where he has a record of 3-2-1 in six starts.

After a disappointing fifth-place, 10-length loss in the Jan. 23 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) to start the year, McGaughey pulled the 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner-up out of training for a freshening.

"After he ran in the Pegasus, we sent him home and he had some bone remodeling issues. I thought a couple of times we brought him back too fast, so I wanted to send him to Niall Brennan in Ocala and give him enough time for everything to come together," McGaughey said about the $2.8 million earner. "I'm pleased with the way everything has gone."

The initial results were superb as the multiple grade 1 winner looked as good as ever, returning from a seven-month layoff and posting a sharp 2 1/2-length victory in the Aug. 21 Philip H. Iselin Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park in a quick 1:42.38 for the 1 1/16 miles.

"I would have started him off at Saratoga but they only had seven-furlong and mile-and-an-eighth races," McGaughey said. "Now that he's older, seven furlongs isn't his thing, and I think at that track, for horses coming off a layoff or who are lightly raced, a mile and an eighth can be a pretty grueling race. So, when I saw the Iselin, I thought that would be a place to get a good, solid race in him in a graded stakes. I thought it was a good prep race and the most logical place to run him."

Paco Lopez rode Code of Honor for the first time in the Iselin and handled the assignment well enough to merit a return call in the Woodward.

"I liked what I saw in Paco and I liked his interest after the race," McGaughey said. "He called me and told me it might be the nicest horse he was ever on and he sure would like to ride him again and that was good enough for me. I like someone who has confidence in what they are doing and thought he deserved a chance to ride him back."

Several others in the field of six have their eyes squarely focused on the Classic, including Godolphin's Maxfield , who is making his first start since finishing second to Knicks Go  in the Aug. 7 Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. 

The homebred Street Sense   4-year-old has won seven of his nine starts for trainer Brendan Walsh and will be making his first start at Belmont Park. Among those seven wins are victories in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at 2 and the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet (G2) and Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) prior to the Whitney.

"It's absolutely important," Walsh said about the Woodward, "especially with a horse like him, who we always thought would get better as he gets older. For his stallion career and everything, it would be very important to get a grade 1 win in him this year. I think we saw an advance on him in the Whitney because he ran right through the wire, which I was pleased to see him do. It all bodes well for the races ahead."

Bill Mott will send out two starters—Art Collector  and Forza Di Oro —seeking a fifth Woodward win.

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector figures to be on or near the lead in the one-turn, nine-furlong Woodward and could be tough to catch as he bids for a third straight win since moving to Mott's barn this summer. The homebred Bernardini 4-year-old is coming off a victory around three turns in the Aug. 27 Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2).

"He's made no mistakes so far. He looks great and the horse is doing very well. We're very pleased with him," Mott said.

Don Alberto Stable's Forza Di Oro was the 6-5 favorite in the Sept. 4 Jockey Club Gold Cup but tired in the stretch and finished third.

"It could have been the distance. We were concerned about that going in," Mott said about the son of Speightstown  's effort in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. "He's capable of a different running style. We'll leave that up to the jock."

St. Elias Stable's Dr Post  returns home to Belmont after a trip west for the TVG Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar. After falling back on the final turn, the son of Quality Road   rallied to finish third, 5 3/4 lengths behind the winner.

"(Jockey Joel Rosario) seemed to think that maybe he was struggling with the track a little bit in the middle part of the race for some reason. He seemed to get a hold of it well late in the race, but just put himself in a tough spot with too much to do. It wasn't a bad race by any means," trainer Todd Pletcher said about the 2020 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) runner-up.

Entries: Woodward S. (G1)

Belmont Park, Saturday, October 02, 2021, Race 10

• Grade I
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $500,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 5:45 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Dr Post (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	124	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
2	2Maxfield (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	124	Brendan P. Walsh	7/5
3	3Art Collector (KY)	Luis Saez	124	William I. Mott	3/1
4	4Mo Gotcha (KY)	Jalon L. Samuel	122	Naipaul Chatterpaul	50/1
5	5Code of Honor (KY)	Paco Lopez	124	Claude R. McGaughey III	5/2
6	6Forza Di Oro (KY)	Junior Alvarado	122	William I. Mott	5/1