By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–Honor Marie (Honor Code) has his partner for the $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Aug. 24.
Trainer Whit Beckman said Saturday that Tyler Gaffalione will ride the colt in the marquee race of the summer at the Spa.
Beckman made it official after Honor Marie, with Gaffalione on board, worked four furlongs in 48.75 (12/44) on the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning. They worked in company with stablemate Anthem King (Bolt d'Oro), who was ridden by T. C. Stevens.
“Tyler knows how to close,” Beckman said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Saturday. “He fits him very well.”
Gaffalione has worked Honor Marie his last three works. He will become the fourth jockey to ride him this year. Rafael Bejarano was on board when Honor Marie finished fifth in the GII Risen Star Stakes at Louisiana Downs in his first start this year.
Ben Curtis rode him to a second-place finish in the GII Louisiana Derby and an eighth in the GI Kentucky Derby. Curtis then dislocated his shoulder and was replaced by Florent Geroux, who rode Honor Marie to a fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont Stakes.
“It's going to be an impressive field in the Travers,” Gaffalione said after the work. “I'm looking forward to competing in it. I definitely have a ton of confidence in my horse. He has shown he can compete with these. All he needs is a chance.”
Saturday, Beckman put blinkers on Honor Marie for the first time during a breeze. Beckman said he was not sure if he would use the equipment in the Travers. Honor Marie has never had blinkers on during a race.
“He is a horse that likes to set himself pretty far back,” Beckman said. “With some of his races, especially the Belmont, he was just so far back. We want him to maybe get a little more responsive so, when it's time to go, he will pick it up a little easier.”
Honor Marie and Gaffalione came onto the Oklahoma at 9:30 a.m. after a renovation break. They were on the outside of Anthem King and Stevens, the son of Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens.
“They broke out a little quick, but recovered well and sat perfectly together,” Beckman said. “Time wise, it was perfect. I would have wished the first part would have been a little slower, but everything is on target. We got through the work, we got the rider and we're happy to be here.”
Honor Marie, who is owned by Ribble Farms LLC, Michael H. Eiserman, Earl I. Silver, Kenneth E. Fishbein and Dave Fishbein, will have his final pre-Travers work next weekend.
Maker Quietly Climbing Up The Ladder In Trainer Standings
It's no secret that trainer Mike Maker is a man of very few words. He lets his horses do the talking for him and, halfway through the Saratoga meet, they are doing just that.
Through 22 days of the 40-day season, Maker has 15 wins from 73 starts.
“So far, so good,” Maker said while sitting in his office at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch Saturday morning.
Maker, who is a constant on the Kentucky circuit, has no thoughts of winning the training title at this meet. Chad Brown, who has won–or tied–for the title in five of the last six years, is the favorite to land on the top this summer. After Saturday's card, Brown has 19 victories.
Maker came into this meet knowing he was going to have frequent trips to the winner's circle.
“I had a lot of horses that fit, and it has panned out that way,” he said.
This is not a first for the 55-year-old Maker, one of several assistants to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas who have gone on to have their own successful careers. He has had Saratoga success in the past.
In 2021, he had a personal best of 25 wins, 24 seconds and 19 thirds from 140 starts and finished third in the trainer standings. He was also third in 2020 (20 wins), fourth in 2022 (17) and fifth last year (12).
“Saratoga is the most famous racetrack and I love everything about it,” Maker said. “We don't come in here with any goals. Everyone here is so competitive. You are lucky to get one (win).”
With the Saratoga season taking aim at the end of summer, Maker said he still has some bullets left to fire. But to think he could overtake Brown?
“No,” he said. “We kind of die down a little bit at the end of the meet. We point towards Kentucky Downs.”
The all-turf meet at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky. starts its seven-day meet on Aug. 29. Maker has been the leading trainer at that meet seven of the last nine years. In 2022, the last time he wore the crown, he had a record 12 wins. He is the all-time leading trainer at Kentucky Downs with 84 wins.
“We'll have quite a few to run there,” he said. “People show up for the races there, it's a fun little town and the money, well, it's not too shabby either.”
More Than Looks Returns To Races In Fourstardave; First Start Since Breeders' Cup Mile
It has been 280 days since we last saw More Than Looks (More Than Ready) in a horse race.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux is putting her 4-year-old colt in an ambitious spot as More Than Looks is entered in Sunday's $500,000 GI FanDuel Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga.
The race was originally carded for Saturday but was moved up a day to give the turf courses more time to recover from Friday's heavy rain brought on from the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby.
“He is doing tremendous,” DeVaux said outside of More Than Looks's stall at her barn on the Saratoga backstretch Saturday morning.
More Than Looks, owned by Victory Racing Partners, last ran in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, finishing sixth, beaten just two lengths. After that, DeVaux gave him some time off after his eight-race (four wins) 2023 campaign. More Than Looks was unraced as a 2-year-old.
DeVaux wanted to get him restarted in March at the Fair Grounds, but, the day of his return race, More Than Looks had his own plan.
“We had him entered in an allowance race and, on the day he was supposed to run, he put his leg over the webbing and injured a tendon,” DeVaux said. “Horses … they just like to make sure our plans never happen!”
DeVaux said More Than Looks came back quicker than she could have hoped for.
The new target was the Lure Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 3.
“That would have been a more ideal spot, but we got another week of breezing,” she said. I was encouraged how he worked on Monday (four furlongs in 48.65 1/54) to enter in this spot.”
DeVaux's plan is to run More Than Looks once more after the Fourstardave–most likely at Keeneland–and then take another shot at the Breeders' Cup Mile.
“He showed he belonged (in the Breeders' Cup),” DeVaux said. “He was left with too much to do at the top of the stretch. Maybe with a better trip we would have had a better placing.”
Because of the long layoff, asking More Than Looks for a win – he is the 7-2 third choice on the Fourstardave morning line– might be too big of an ask. But DeVaux knows the horse knows what he can do.
“This is a big step up coming off the layoff and we don't really have him cranked up for this,” DeVaux said. “Would I be surprised if he won? No. But I am going to manage my expectations and the clients' expectations. We are just happy to get him back to the races and, hopefully, he gives a good showing of himself.”
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