Honorable Duty Runs Them Down in New Orleans Handicap

Last fall, trainer Brendan Walsh saw a horse whose mind was getting in the way of his physical progression. Since undergoing the ultimate attitude adjustment, Honorable Duty has refused to let another rival block his path to the winner's circle.

DARRS Inc's Honorable Duty recorded his third consecutive stakes win in as many starts since being gelded last year, running down an extremely game Breaking Lucky by a neck in late stretch to capture the $400,000 New Orleans Handicap (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots April 1.

In adding the 1 1/8-mile New Orleans Handicap to his resume, 5-year-old Honorable Duty completes a sweep of the Fair Grounds stakes for older horses, having previously captured the Tenacious Stakes last Dec. 17 and earning his first graded score in the Mineshaft Handicap (G3) Feb. 25. His current form also validates the hard decision his connections had to make after he finished fifth in the Lukas Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs last October.

WINCZE HUGHES: Honorable Duty Holds Strong in Mineshaft Handicap

By Distorted Humor   and out of the A.P. Indy mare Mesmeric, a daughter of Juddmonte Farms'  blue hen producer Toussaud, Honorable Duty would show flashes of ability, but could not get himself together enough to progress to the next level. After taking five tries to break his maiden, he reeled off three straight victories but was then off the board in his two tries against stakes company.

"He's always been a horse that had a ton of talent, but his mind was getting was the better of him," Walsh said. "He was getting to the point where he wasn't going to advance without doing it."

On Saturday, the bay gelding flaunted once more how much he has improved during his time in New Orleans.

As Breaking Lucky cut fractions of :23.50 and :46.63 with Iron Fist at his neck and grade 1 winner Noble Bird traveling on the inside path next to Aglimpseofgabby, Honorable Duty was more than seven lengths behind that quartet in fifth, getting some patient handling from jockey James Graham. As the nine-horse field came off the final turn, Breaking Lucky had dismissed Iron Fist and was kicking on bravely under Luis Contreras, seemingly poised to earn his first graded stakes win on dirt.

Having advanced past some tiring foes coming into the lane, Honorable Duty was angled off the rail by Graham and dug in under right-handed urging to get his neck down in the final strides en route to stopping the teletimer in 1:48.35 over a fast track.

"He's actually getting better and better every start," Graham said. "He got away from me in the second turn and they caught him a little flat footed, but when I picked him up and asked him to run, he ran all the way to the wire."

Sent off at 8-1 odds, Honorable Duty paid out $18.80, $8, and $4.60 across the board.

The top two were five lengths clear of Iron Fist in third, while veteran Eagle ran on to finish fourth as Hawaakom rounded out the top five.

Noble Bird, the 9-5 favorite, folded up in the stretch and came home sixth. Roman Approval was a scratch.

Bred by Juddmonte and purchased by David Ross for $130,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, Honorable Duty improved his record to six wins from 12 starts with $501,276 in earnings.