Curlin Win Puts Highest Honors in Travers Picture
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Highest Honors wins the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Bill Farish couldn't find a nearby piece of wood, so he laughed and then banged his fist lightly against his head in a gesture to ward off the racing gods.
Farish's father, William S. Farish, had just won the $100,000 Curlin Stakes for 3-year-olds with Highest Honors, giving the family a chance to have the son of Tapit join his dad's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) runner-up, Code of Honor, and give them two of the top starters in the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1).
Yet the younger Farish, who was representing his father, was leaving nothing to chance after the July 26 stakes at Saratoga Race Course when he was asked a question—prefaced with "in a perfect world"—about having two Travers starters.
"In a perfect world. Knock on wood. I hope both can get there," he said about Highest Honors and the Shug McGaughey-trained Code of Honor. "It will be very exciting."
Barring any unexpected setbacks, Highest Honors and Code of Honor figure to be running for different trainers Aug. 24 when the 1 1/4 miles of the $1.25 Travers at the Spa promise to point out the leader of the 3-year-old class.
"It will be the 3-year-old race of the year," Farish said. "It's amazing. It's so exciting that so many of them are still in training. So often, early 3-year-olds don't stick around, so it's great to see. It's going to be electric here."
Highest Honors, who paid $10.20, became the 125th black-type winner for Tapit, a Gainesway stallion. The 3-year-old homebred rallied widest from last in the field of six over a muddy (sealed) track and surged to a 1 1/2-length victory over Godolphin's Endorsed in 1:52.27 for the 1/8 miles.
It was just the third start for Highest Honors, who was slowed by minor problems at 2 and did not make his career debut until April 20 when he lost by a neck in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Keeneland.
Though the Triple Crown was out of the question, trainer Chad Brown quickly tabbed Highest Honor as his leading hopeful for the Midsummer Derby.
"The Travers is the race we've been thinking about for a long time, knowing he was not going to be on the Kentucky Derby trail," Brown said. "We always thought he was very talented, and the Travers was the dream."
Jockey Jose Ortiz—the rider in all three of Highest Honors' starts, including a June 1 maiden win at Belmont Park—said Brown had confidence in the gray/roan colt since day one.
"I give Chad a lot of credit. The day of his maiden race, he said, 'This is my Travers horse.' He knew what he had. Look at the horse now. He's going to the Travers," said Ortiz, who may have a decision to make after the July 27 Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2). Ortiz also rides Tacitus, the 7-5 favorite in that $600,000 steppingstone to the Travers.
Farish also praised Brown's patience in turning Highest Honors into a stakes winner with a seemingly bright future.
"They don't all get ready for the Derby," he said. "Chad's been so patient with this horse and has done a wonderful job. After the classics, he said this was a Travers horse."
Unlike the Jim Dandy, the Curlin is a restricted stakes for horses who have not won a graded stakes over a mile in 2019. V. E. Day , in 2014, was the last horse to win both the Curlin and the Travers.
"This is a great race for horses like him who are developing late," Farish said. "It was a very good field."
Out of the Dixieland Band mare Tap Your Feet, Highest Honors was a $750,000 RNA from the Lane's End consignment in 2017 at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's selected yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
"We tried to sell him and Code of Honor. Luckily, we didn't," Farish said.
Endorsed and jockey Joe Bravo moved with Highest Honors on the final turn, but the son of Medaglia d'Oro was unable to keep stride with the winner. Endorsed had five lengths on the third-place finisher, 6-5 favorite Looking At Bikinis, who set the early fractions of :24.23 and :49.36.
"I'm really proud of the big guy," Bravo said. "It was his first time going a mile and an eighth after a six-furlong race, and he fought. It was a big question if he would be able to step up to this level or not, and look what he did. He fought all the way down the lane. I can't wait to see his next race."
Endorsed came into the Curlin with two wins in three starts. He won his debut last year at Saratoga, then finished sixth in the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park in his 2-year-old finale. He won a June 23 allowance race at Belmont Park in his first start at 3.
Brown said he was uncertain about what's next for Looking At Bikinis, a son of Lookin At Lucky who entered the race 2-for-2 with maiden and allowance victories for Long Lake Stables, Madaket Stables, Doheny Racing Stable, and Thomas Coleman.
"He got away to an easy lead and didn't have any real excuses," Brown said. "We'll just have to evaluate him and give him a chance to redeem himself. Whether that's the Travers, I don't know."