Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Honorable Duty short price off layoff in Lukas Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It has been a year since Honorable Duty turned in a subpar effort. No one is expecting another one anytime soon.
First or second in all five starts since he finished fifth without a mishap in the 2016 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, Honorable Duty will be heavily favored Saturday when he faces six other older horses in his second shot at the Grade 3, $200,000 Lukas Classic.
Honorable Duty, a 5-yearold Kentucky-bred gelding by Distorted Humor, raced most recently at the Churchill spring meet, finishing second to Bird Song in the Grade 2 Alysheba on May 5 and second to Gun Runner in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 17.
“He’s shown he does really well over this track, both in his training and his racing,” said Brendan Walsh, who trains Honorable Duty for the DARRS Inc. of Virginia real estate mogul David Ross. “Those were a couple of real nice horses that beat him in the spring.”
Walsh has his eye on the Oct. 28 Fayette and Nov. 24 Clark at Churchill as future spots for Honorable Duty. Depending on how those go, Honorable Duty could be a candidate for major events such as the Pegasus World Cup or Dubai World Cup, or he could return in handicap events such as those he swept last winter at Fair Grounds – the Tenacious, Mineshaft, and New Orleans Handicap.
“Obviously, he turned a corner for us last winter in New Orleans,” said Walsh. “He’s been a great horse for us.”
Honorable Duty will break from the outside post and will be ridden by leading jockey Corey Lanerie in the 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic. The top threats include Eagle (post 6, Brian Hernandez Jr. to ride), an established closer who has rounded back into form for Neil Howard; Money Flows (post 5, Miguel Mena), who has never missed a check in 12 starts, having been shrewdly managed by Al Stall Jr.; and Fear the Cowboy (post 3, Jesus Rios), a well-traveled Florida shipper entered off a stakes victory at Mountaineer Park.
The others are Seeking the Soul (post 1, Florent Geroux), Albano (post 2, Channing Hill), and Flashy Jewel (post 4, Chris Landeros).
Money Flows was fourth behind Eagle in the July 15 Schaefer Memorial at Indiana Grand in his most recent start.
“Other than that, he’s been third or better every time,” noted Stall. “I think he’ll be there or thereabouts this time, as they say. He’s training well – nice and fresh.”
The Lukas Classic is the second of three straight stakes and the ninth of 11 races overall on a Saturday card that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the feature is 4:49. The surrounding stakes are the Jefferson Cup (race 8, 4:18) and the Ack Ack (race 10, 5:20). The last race goes at 5:50.
The weather will be ideal, with sunny skies and a high of 74 in the forecast. Many fans will be on hand early in the day before leaving midcard for nearby Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium, where a 3:30 kickoff is set for the Murray State-Louisville college football game.
The Lukas Classic honors D. Wayne Lukas, the legendary 82-year-old trainer who makes his home in Louisville and has based his stable at Churchill during much of his Hall of Fame career.
This will be the fifth
running of the Lukas Classic, which became a focal point of the September meet when Churchill first took over these dates from Turfway Park in 2013. Fort Larned was the reigning BC Classic champion when he captured the inaugural Lukas Classic that year. The 2016 winner was Noble Bird, trained by Mark Casse. This is the first year the race received a grade from the American Graded Stakes Committee.
Sunday is closing day of an 11-day meet that began Sept. 15. Keeneland starts its 17-day fall meet Friday, Oct. 6.