Greatest Honour to continue on Florida road to the Derby

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Barring a setback, it will be on to the Grade 1 Florida Derby here March 27 for Greatest Honour, the courageous winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

Greatest Honour’s competition will likely include two formidable new shooters – the graded stakes-placed Known Agenda and exciting maiden winner Collaborate.

Trainer Shug McGaughey reported Sunday that Greatest Honour came out of his 1 1/2-length victory over Drain the Clock in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth in good order. Greatest Honour had to rally from more than eight lengths behind the pacesetting Drain the Clock with a quartermile to go to add the Fountain of Youth to his easier triumph in the Grade 3 Holy Bull four weeks earlier.

Greatest Honour received an 89 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory in the Fountain of Youth, matching the careerbest number he had earned in the Holy Bull.

“We shipped him back to Payson last night, and he seemed to be good this morning,” McGaughey said between races Sunday. “I thought he ran a great race yesterday, considering what he had to overcome. Some obstacles he never had before. To be able to do that going a mile and a sixteenth over that track against a good horse who was second I thought was very good.”

McGaughey confirmed the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby would be next on the agenda for Greatest Honour, if all goes well over the next four weeks. McGaughey won the race with Orb as a final prep before his victory in the 2013 Kentucky Derby.

“It could be a concern coming back in four weeks off a hard race like he had yesterday, and if there is, I won’t run,” McGaughey said. “There are other options the following week like the Wood or the Blue Grass, or I could go right ahead and train him up to the Derby.”

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. reported that Drain the Clock also came out of his secondplace finish in the Fountain of Youth in good order, although he is not expected to wheel back in the Florida Derby, which would mean stretching him out an additional sixteenth.

“At the three-eighths pole, watching the race live yesterday, it looked like Greatest Honour was beaten,” Joseph said. “But watching the replay last night, I could see at the head of the lane that he was the winner. Even though we got beat, we’re not walking away disappointed. We got run down by a really nice horse with unlimited stamina. But in the end, he ran his race and got beat fair and square. We gave it a shot stretching him around two turns, and the reality is he ran credibly, but failed to stay.”

Joseph said he will shorten Drain the Clock back to one turn for his next start. Drain the Clock was a runaway winner of the Grade 3 Swale at seven furlongs earlier in the meet.

“I think running him more distance again would only hinder his true brilliance,” Joseph said. “There are plenty of big races, Grade 1s out there at one turn.”

Despite the fact Drain the Clock is not Florida Derbybound, it appears Joseph will still have a major contender for the race in the lightly raced Collaborate, who drew off to a 12 1/2-length maiden win going a mile at Gulfstream on Saturday in his second start. The son of Into Mischief earned a 90 Beyer Figure and a likely ticket into the Florida Derby.

Collaborate closed to finish fifth, beaten 1 1/4 lengths, in his first start, which came here at six furlongs.

“His first start was disappointing that he got beat with the talent he has, but I always look for the positive in every negative situation and what he got was a ton of experience out of that race,” Joseph said. “He missed the break, took a lot of dirt, had to wait in traffic to get clear enough to make a late run. It’s a building-block race that should really serve him well going forward. He has that long stride, and stamina with him is no problem. Granted, it’s a tall task, but he deserves a shot somewhere to get to the Kentucky Derby, and the Florida Derby is the most logical option, being it’s here, at our home track.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who won four races on Saturday’s card, also confirmed the Florida Derby would most likely be next for Known Agenda, who bounced back from a fifth-place finish as the favorite in the Sam Davis at Tampa Bay Downs with an 11-length allowance win here Friday. The victory was the second in five career starts for Known Agenda, who also finished third in the Grade 2 Remsen at 2.

“It was good to see him back on track,” Pletcher said. “I think putting the blinkers on helped him focus a little better early on. At Tampa, he got stuck inside, took a lot of kickback, and dropped farther back than we wanted. He made up a lot of ground down the lane, but was in an impossible spot turning for home. The Florida Derby is the logical option, having already won at a mile and an eighth over the track.”

Trainer Butch Reid reported that Vequist seemed to come out of her dull performance in Saturday’s Grade 2 Davona Dale without any serious issues. Vequist, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and 2-year-old filly champion for 2020, was eased to the wire 26 lengths behind race winner Wholebodemeister as the 1-2 favorite in her 3-year-old debut.

“She’s good and sound this morning,” Reid said late Sunday morning. “She scoped a little dirty after the race, had a little mucus, so we’ll put her on antibiotics for the next week and get that cleaned up. At the moment, the Kentucky Oaks remains our goal, although we’ll just wait and let her tell us before we formulate any further plans.”

Irad Ortiz fined for altercation

Irad Ortiz Jr., Gulfstream Park’s leading rider, was fined $1,000 and placed on probation for the remainder of the meet along with fellow jockey Paco Lopez after the two had an altercation following the fourth race here Friday.

Ortiz, the two-time defending Gulfstream Park riding champion, won the 1 1/8-mile allowance race for 3-year-olds by 11 lengths aboard odds-on favorite Known Agenda. Lopez, who rode runner-up Top Gun Tommy, lodged what appeared to be a questionable claim of foul against the winner, claiming interference entering the stretch, which was dismissed by the stewards. The altercation between the two riders took place near the winner’s circle shortly after the pair dismounted.

According to track officials, the terms of the probation mean that any future altercation between the two riders would result in “fines and/or suspension and possible expulsion from the grounds.”

Ortiz holds a commanding advantage in the jockey standings with 107 victories through Sunday, 28 more than runnerup Luis Saez. Lopez is tied for third with Tyler Gaffalione with 71 wins apiece.