Honor Code Impresses, Take Charge Brandi Flops, Moreno Retires

THE WEEKEND’S BEST STORIES

August 7th – 9th

Honor Code Impresses In Whitney
Perhaps the deepest field in horse racing this summer, the Gr.I Whitney Stakes was the thriller of thrillers packed with talent this past weekend at Saratoga. Metropolitan Handicap winner Honor Code didn’t seem to pose much of a threat trailing the field for most of the race, but the son of A.P. Indy sent onlookers into a frenzy when he ate up ground on the final turn and put a neck in front of Liam’s Map a few feet before the wire.

This is not the first time Honor Code shocks with a huge move on the stretch. The four-year-old, trained by Claude McGaughey III, trailed the field for ¾’s of the race last out in the Gr.1 Metropolitan Handicap before exploding on the stretch in front of a record crowd on Belmont Stakes day, winning by 3 ¾ lengths. On March 7th, he denied front-running Private Zone a win in the Gr.2 Gulfstream Park Handicap with a late surge of speed that took him from last to first in the final quarter of a mile.

This time around was no different. While frontrunner Liam’s Map set blazing hot fractions (the ¼ in 22.79, the ½ in 46.00, ¾’s in 1:09.72, and the mile in 1:34.66), Honor Code was hanging in the back no further up than seventh until the stretch, where he impressed with a big move that bumped him up to second.

Pletcher-trained Liam’s Map couldn’t hold off the forward moving Honor Code and gave way just a few strides before the finish. Nonetheless, it was a monster performance for the four-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song. This year’s Whitney was made up of some of the toughest older horses in the nation and the colt barely batted an eyelash.

Regarding Liam’s Map, jockey Mike Smith told EverythingEq, “It’s not fun to lose like that, but my horse ran an amazing race. He’s a very, very talent horse that proved he could run with the best.”

Last year’s Travers Stakes runner-up Wicked Strong and winner V.E. Day trailed the field for most of the race to finish a decent fourth and fifth, respectively, for trainer Jimmy Jerkens.

Owned by Lane’s End Farm, Honor Code was bred by Dell Ridge Farm, LLC., in Kentucky. Since his debut in August of 2013, the ridgling has won six of 9 careers starts, finished second twice, and his only finish off the board came in the Gr.2 Alysheba this past May at Churchill Downs, where he finished fifth. To date, he has amassed $1,978,260 in earnings. Saturday’s Gr.1 Whitney marked Honor Code’s fourth graded stakes win and second grade one victory.

Payouts for the race:
Honor Code ————– $9.50 win, $5.90 place, $3.50 show
Liam’s Map ————————–$7.40 place, $4.50 show
Tonalist ——————- ———————- $3.00 show

$2 Superfecta → $1,383.00

 
Graded Stakes Keep Coming For Victor Espinoza
It’s good to be Victor Espinoza. The Triple Crown winning jockey has seen graded stakes win after graded stakes win since he first got the ride aboard American Pharoah last year (technically since he piloted California Chrome). Saturday, August 8th, put yet another graded title on his resume when he piloted Irish-bred Elektrum to the Gr.2 John C. Mabee win by a head.

The field of eight, which included graded stakes winners Fanticola and Queen of the Sand, covered a distance of 1 1/8 miles on turf and was lead by front-running Fanticola for ¾’s of the race. Piloted by Drayden Van Dyke, Irish-bred Queen of the Sand settled for runner-up, while Joe Talamo and Fanticola dropped back to finish fourth.

Trained by John Sadler, Elektrum is a four-year-old daughter of High Chaparral (IRE) that made her U.S. debut back in February of this year. This is her first graded stakes victory for owners Hronis, LLC., and her second victory on U.S. soil.

As for Victor Espinoza, 332 starts make up his current year (65 wins, 55 seconds, 47 thirds) with earnings totaling $13,683,244 — already $1,567,229 more than his total for 2014.

Payouts for the race:
Elektrum ————– $8.60 win, $4.40 place, $3.60 show
Queen of the Sand —————–$8.40 place, $4.80 show
Emotional Kitten  —————————— $3.80 show

 
Take Charge Brandi Flops In Gr.1 Test
Saturday’s Longines Test Stakes marked the return of Take Charge Brandi since she was sidelined with an injury earlier this year. But the three-year-old daughter of Giant’s Causeway was a no show, finishing dead last in a field of ten.

Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Take Charge Brandi set the earlier fractions for the first half of the seven furlong race. The filly, piloted by Luis Saez, ran a modest 23.21 in the first quarter before picking up the pace and going the half in 46.21. Rounding out the final turn she weakened and gave way to Bar of Gold, and continued to drop back drastically on the stretch.

One of the early trailers, Cavorting had plenty left in the tank and fired away on the stretch to win the Gr.1 Test by 2 ½ lengths with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard. The three-year-old daughter of Bernardini is owned by Stonestreet Stables, LLC., and is trained by Kiaran McLaughlin. This is her second graded stakes win.

Payouts for the race:
Cavorting ————– $7.60 win, $4.80 place, $3.20 show
Bar of Gold ————————$12.20 place, $6.40 show
By The Moon ———————————– $3.80 show

$2 Superfecta → $2,993.00

 
Palace Malice Runs Fourth in Alydar Stakes
2013 Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice gave it a go on Sunday, August 9th, in the Alydar Stakes, making his second start of 2015. However, a victory was not in the cards for the five-year-old son of Curlin, who went on to finish fourth.

Connections of the multiple graded stakes winner had announced his retirement in September of last year and later decided he would run a five-year-old campaign in 2015. But Palace Malice has not been the same horse since he last won the Metropolitan Handicap in June of 2014.

Piloted by Johnny Velazquez, Palace Malice ran amongst the earlier trailers for the first half of the race, then moved up to fourth, dropped back to sixth and fought on the stretch to finish fourth.

The victory went to four-year-old Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Bay of Plenty, a son of Medaglia D’oro, owned by Godolphin Racing, LLC. The colt, ridden by Joel Rosario, set fast fractions (the ½ in 46.84 and ¾’s in 1:10.94) leading a gate to wire victory that put him 2 ½ lengths ahead of runner-up Mylute.

Final time for the 1 1/8-mile race → 1:48.92.

Bay of Plenty returned $8.80 for the win; Mylute returned $6.50 for place; third place finisher Neck n’ Neck returned $4.90 for show.

 
Multiple Graded Stakes Winner Moreno Retires
From his career debut at Hollywood Park back in July of 2012, to his first graded stakes victory in the Dwyer Stakes (June 2013), to his triumphant run in last year’s Whitney and this year’s Charles Town Classic, Moreno has excited fans for the last three years.

After Saturday’s Gr.1 Whitney marked the gelding’s 29th career start, his connections announced his retirement. “When it’s that time, it’s that time,” trainer Eric Guillot stated. “He’s been too good to us to gamble and get him hurt. He’s too good of a horse to not do right by him. He’s too good of a horse to run him into the ground.”

The five-year-old son of Ghostzapper had sustained three or four minor injuries during the course of this year and, though they were manageable, his connections agreed it was time to call it quits.

To date, Moreno achieved four career wins—three of which came in the Gr.2 Dwyer Stakes (2013), Gr.1 Whitney (2014), and Gr.2 Charles Town Classic—and second place finishes in the Gr.1 Travers (2013), Gr.2 Pennsylvania Derby (2013), Gr.2 Suburban Handicap (2014), Gr.1 Woodward (2014), Gr.1 Santa Anita Handicap and Gr.2 California Stakes earlier this year. The Kentucky-bred was retired from horse racing shortly after his eighth place finish on Saturday. His career earnings total 2,992,190.

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