Code of Honor to Return in Mucho Macho Man Stakes

After missing two straight starts, Champagne Stakes (G1) runner-up Code of Honor will seek to get back on track in the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man Stakes Jan. 5 at Gulfstream Park.

Though the Mucho Macho Man is not a Road to the Kentucky Derby points race, trainer Shug McGaughey believes the one-turn mile race for 3-year-olds is a good fit for the promising son of Noble Mission .

A homebred for Will Farish, Code of Honor will headline a field of six entered for the stakes that will kick off Gulfstream Park's tradition-rich program for 3-year-olds that leads up to the $1 million Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (G1) March 30.

"He's got to get through this one, but it sure would be nice if we could get to the Florida Derby if he's that kind," said McGaughey, who saddled Orb  to victories in the 2013 Besilu Stables Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

Code of Honor was rated third on the morning line for the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Churchill Downs, only to be scratched after coming down with a fever the morning of the race.

"We got to Louisville and he started coughing a little. We were hoping against hope. That morning, he did have a temperature," McGaughey said. "Somehow, he got over it. I shipped him home Sunday and I gave him three or four days, and he never missed a beat."

After being scratched from the Juvenile, Code of Honor was pointed to the Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct, but McGaughey pulled the plug on that plan following a workout under jockey John Velazquez a week before the Dec. 1 race.

"The main track was closed. We were training on the training track. I'm not really familiar with the training track that much because I basically train on the main track. He looked like he worked fine, but I could tell, myself, that he didn't work as well as he had before," McGaughey said. "Johnny came back and told me, 'Listen, he worked great, but he didn't work as good as he did before the Breeders' Cup.' After the fact, he said, 'If I never worked him before, I'd tell you it was a really good work, but I had worked him before and he was better before.' To take him over there and run him a mile and an eighth over a deep track would have been crazy."

The Mucho Macho Man, which will top a program of five stakes on Saturday's card, became the next logical step for Code of Honor.

Code of Honor debuted Aug. 18 with a brilliant frontrunning triumph in a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Saratoga Race Course before going on to finish a respectable second in the one-mile Champagne Oct. 6 in which he trailed the 10-horse field after stumbling at the start and launched a gutsy rally to finish behind Complexity.

McGaughey believes the colt, who has breezed three times at Payson Park in preparation for his return to action, has room for improvement.

"Physically, he needs to develop. He does well, but he's a bit slight. I'd like to see him physically get bigger," McGaughey said. "He has a lot of talent."

Entries: Mucho Macho Man S.

Gulfstream Park, Saturday, January 05, 2019, Race 10

• STK
• 1m
• Dirt
• $100,000
• 3 yo
• 4:41 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Garter and Tie (FL)	Tyler Gaffalione	120	Ralph E. Nicks	6/1
2	2Well Defined (FL)	Carlos Montalvo	120	Kathleen O'Connell	5/1
3	3Trophy Chaser (KY)	Leonel Reyes	116	Juan Carlos Avila	4/1
4	4Code of Honor (KY)	John R. Velazquez	116	Claude R. McGaughey III	7/5
5	5Gladiator King (KY)	Jorge J. Urdaneta	120	Jaime Mejia	12/1
6	6Mihos (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	116	James A. Jerkens	7/2