Castellano gets familiar with Code of Honor for Kelso

ELMONT, N.Y. – Code of Honor worked five furlongs in 1:03.06 on Monday morning over Belmont Park’s main track in preparation for a start in the Grade 2, $150,000 Kelso Handicap here Oct. 3.

Javier Castellano was aboard Code of Honor on Monday morning and will ride him in the Kelso. John Velazquez, Code of Honor’s regular rider, is scheduled to ride Authentic that same day in the Preakness at Pimlico.

Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch timed Code of Honor’s first three furlongs in 37.44 seconds and had him galloping out six furlongs in 1:16.13. It was Code of Honor’s fourth work since he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Whitney on Aug. 1 at Saratoga.

“He worked fine,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “Like Javier said, ‘I don’t know how fast I went but he went good.’ He looked to me like he was moving awfully well.”

Last year, Code of Honor came into the fall off an authoritative victory in the Grade 1 Travers. He crossed the finish line second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but was placed first after the stewards disqualified Vino Rosso for interference in the stretch. Code of Honor finished the year with a seventh-place finish to Vino Rosso in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

This year, prior to the Whitney, Code of Honor won the Grade 3 Westchester and finished third in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, both one-turn races at Belmont in the summer.

Though McGaughey is running Code of Honor in the one-mile Kelso, he said, depending on how the horse runs, Code of Honor will be considered for both the Classic and the Dirt Mile.

McGaughey said after Monday’s workout that Code of Honor is “ready to go.”

Castellano “said there was a lot left in the tank, so we’ll see next Saturday,” he said.

Others who have been mentioned for the Kelso include Complexity, Endorsed, and Funny Guy.

Few willing to face Volatile

Volatile, winner of the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in July at Saratoga, may have only three challengers in Saturday’s Grade 2, $150,000 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park.

As of Sunday, the racing office listed Firenze Fire, T Loves a Fight, and Share the Ride as others expected to run in the Vosburgh, which offers a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

Volatile, a son of Violence trained by Steve Asmussen, has won all three of his starts this year, four in a row dating back to last November, and is 5 for 6 overall.

Jose Ortiz will replace regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. for the day on Volatile.

Volatile was expected to have his final breeze for the Vosburgh on Tuesday at Saratoga.

Share the Ride is a recent addition to the expected field. Claimed for $16,000 on July 5 by Antonio Arriaga for owner Silvino Ramirez, the 5-year-old gelding by Candy Ride is coming off a 3 3/4-length victory in the Mr. Prospector Stakes on Sept. 12 at Monmouth. He earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure.

That race came one week after he finished fifth to Analyze It in the Grade 3 Red Bank Stakes on turf. Arriaga said he used the Red Bank as a training session for Share the Ride to get to the Mr. Prospector.

“We didn’t ask him too much that day,” Arriaga said. “We never thought he was going to be this good.”

Arriaga said that if Share the Ride does run in the Vosburgh, Manny Franco would ride.

Marquez, Cordero team up

Apprentice jockey Charlie Marquez, 17, will begin riding at Belmont Park on Friday, having moved his tack from Laurel. He will be represented by Angel Cordero Jr., the Hall of Fame rider who also is the agent for Manny Franco.

Marquez is the son of jockey Carlos Marquez Jr. and the grandson of Carlos Marquez Sr., whom Cordero said he rode with in the 1970s. Carlos Marquez Sr. also was a teacher at Puerto Rico’s Escuela Vocacional Hipica jockey school.

Charlie Marquez has ridden 63 winners from 394 mounts in 2020. He finished third in the standings at Laurel’s winter/ spring meet and was third again at the recently concluded summer meet.

In an interview with the Laurel Park publicity department, Marquez said he was looking forward to teaming up with Cordero.

“He’s a great mentor, a good agent and has a lot of connections, so hopefully we can be a good team and work together to get some wins,” Marquez said.

Marquez is named to ride in six of Friday’s 10 races at Belmont. He joins Luis Cardenas and Heman Harkie as the only apprentice riders in New York.

JOE LABOZZETTA/NYRA Code of Honor started his season by winning the Westchester.