Honour looking great for McGaughey

IN Florida another son of Tapit is making waves on the Derby Trail. Greatest Honour arrived in the state, from New York, winless in three starts.

He took four runs to break his maiden when he posted a win at Gulfstream Park on St Stephen’s Day before romping home in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in late January, and he showed that was no fluke in blowing his nine rivals away in the stretch of the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth last Saturday.

The colt was only eighth with three furlongs to go but displaying a powerful stretch kick, Greatest Honour flew past the front-running Drain The Clock and surged away to a length-and-a-half victory, looking as though the extra distance of the Kentucky Derby will be right up his street.

“I won’t ever give up, but I thought we were in trouble,” his veteran trainer Shug McGaughey said.

“That was really something today. He gathered up those horses pretty quickly once he got outside. The impressive part was that everything didn’t go our way and he was still able to catch a pretty darn good horse. A speed horse on this racetrack is not always easy to catch so I’m really pleased with the performance.”

The victory in a time of 1m 44.02secs earned 50 qualifying points and his total of 60 points puts him at the top of the Derby leaderboard.

The March 27th Florida Derby over nine furlongs is likely to be his next outing.

Greatest Honour is the second foal of the Street Cry mare Tiffany’s Honour who was sold to Japan for $2.2 million two years ago.

It was McGaughey’s second Fountain of Youth win in the last three runnings and he also on the race with Derby winner Orb before winning the 2019 edition with Code Of Honor, who was promoted to second in that year’s Kentucky Derby.

“They are hard to compare. They are two different horses. Where Code Of Honor was a little more of a grinder, when this one hits full stride, he keeps going.”

Fillies

The fillies’ trial, the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes, was meant to mark the triumphant return of champion juvenile filly Vequist, making her first start since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. She proved a big disappointment in finishing ninth of 10 at odds-on as Wholebodemeister ran away with the race at odds of 52/1.

The daughter of Bodemeister took the lead and never looked back in a field of 10, notching a six-and-a-half-length win.

Another candidate for the Florida Derby emerged when Collaborate, a son of Into Mischief, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. was an impressive maiden winner on the card.

In a card full of graded race action, multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy held off a late bid from Brendan Walsh’s Irish-bred graded stakes winner Zofelle by a nose to make a triumphant six-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Honey Fox Stakes.

Godolphin’s Antoinette, the Saratoga Oaks winner last year, took the Grade 3 The Very One Stakes.