By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Manny Franco was on Honor Marie's (Honor Code) back when the colt hit the Oklahoma Training Track at 7:30 Saturday morning.
That doesn't mean Franco will be there when Honor Marie runs in the GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 24.
Honor Marie worked four furlongs in :48.75 with 2-year-old stablemate Fiddling Felix (Mendelssohn) as he continues to train up to the Midsummer Derby.
Franco answered the call to work the horse because trainer Whit Beckman doesn't have an abundance of exercise riders at his disposal for his 13-horse stable at the Spa. Beckman said he has just one salaried exercise rider working for him here.
So, don't read into Franco being the Travers rider. At least, not yet.
“Irad (Ortiz Jr.) was on him for his work last week,” Beckman said back at the barn following the work. “There is nothing to read into. I have had a lot of guys help me out. It is something we will decide a little bit later down the line. I am not looking to make a decision today.”
Florent Geroux rode Honor Marie to a fourth-place finish in the GI Belmont Stakes. He replaced Ben Curtis, who had ridden the colt to an eighth-place finish in the GI Kentucky Derby and a second in the GII Louisiana Derby.
Curtis, however, broke his collarbone and could not ride in the Belmont.
Rafael Bejarano rode Honor Marie in his first four starts.
Honor Marie is owned by Ribble Farms LLC, Michael H. Eiserman, Earl I. Silver, Kenneth E. Fishbein and David Fishbein. Beckman said the decision to train the colt up to the Travers came after Honor Marie was given some time off after the Belmont. Once he came back to the barn, he thought it would be a little tight trying to make a prep, like the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes here next Saturday.
“We're very happy with him, I thought he had a great work today,” Beckman said. “We will prepare him (for the Travers) here. He loves it here.”
Mystik Dan Might Not Run Again This Year
Right now, it's a life of leisure for GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents). The colt is in Lexington, Ky., at trainer Kenny McPeek's Magdalena Farm. All he is doing there is getting time off, something McPeek says was well deserved. He may not return to Saratoga this summer.
Mystik Dan | Sarah Andrew
He won't run in the GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 24–McPeek said he won't even nominate him–and there is no race on the horizon.
“We might not run this year, we will see,” McPeek said in his barn office at the Oklahoma Annex. “He is healthy. He has worked really hard this year.”
Mystik Dan has raced six times this year, including all three legs of the Triple Crown, the only horse to do so. He finished second in the GI Preakness Stakes and eighth in the GI Belmont Stakes.
Owned by Four G Racing LLC, Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby III and Valley View Farm LLC, Mystik Dan remained at Saratoga for 30 days after the Belmont before McPeek shipped him back to Kentucky.
The final major race for 3-year-olds this year after the Travers is the GI Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 21.
“You can't push horses into a race,” McPeek said. “They have to take you. He has been really good to us. He is a lovely horse and has gone 10 months without missing a beat. He has been breezing since probably last July, August … he has been go go go. He is very deserving of this. Is 30 days enough? Is 60 days enough? Is 90 days enough? We will let him tell us.”
McPeek hopes to run Mystik Dan as a 4-year-old. If getting him to that point means giving him the rest of the year off, that is what McPeek is going to do.
“Just want to take my time with him,” McPeek said. “He has accomplished a lot, there is nothing else to prove right now.”
DeVaux Chasing First Graded Stakes Win At Saratoga
Since Cherie DeVaux started her own stable in 2018, she has won 12 graded stakes races, according to Equibase.
Cherie DeVaux | Horsephotos
None of them have come at Saratoga. She hopes that changes on Sunday.
DeVaux will saddle Shotgun Hottie (Gun Runner), a 5-year-old mare in the $200,000 GII Shuvee at 1 1/8 miles.
“It's definitely a huge deal,” DeVaux said at her barn on the Saratoga backstretch Saturday morning. “I don't put a lot of pressure on myself to hit those type of milestones, but it would be a great experience.”
DeVaux has won graded stakes races at eight different tracks. Five of them have come at Churchill Downs, her home base. The most recent was the GI Derby City Distaff at Churchill on May 4 with Vahva (Gun Runner). That was her second career Grade I.
Shotgun Hottie, who is the 3-2 second choice on the Shuvee morning line, won the GIII Molly Pitcher at Monmouth last year for DeVaux.
In her last start, Shotgun Hottie was second, beaten a neck by Scylla (Tapit) in the GII Fleur de Lis Stakes at Churchill on June 29. That came after she had won the Listed Allaire DuPont Distaff Stakes at Pimlico on May 17.
In her career, Shotgun Hottie, who is owned by Omar Aldabbagh and Jeff Ganje, has six wins, five seconds and two thirds in 20 starts. She has started 10 times while under DeVaux's care and has four wins, one second and one third.
Shotgun Hottie will be ridden by Paco Lopez in the Shuvee.
“She is doing great right now,” DeVaux said. “She peaked in the DuPont and was just a little unlucky in the Fleur de Lis. She came out of that bouncing around and we decided to take our chances and come up here with the three-week turnaround.”
DeVaux was born in Saratoga but grew up in Florida. She knows the significance of winning at the Spa.
“My family is here,” she said. “It's a big meet. We are on the forefront for summer racing along with Del Mar. It's important.”
DeVaux is off to a strong start at this meet. After winning Saturday's first race with 13-1 Without Caution (Without Parole {GB}), she has four wins, a second and two thirds in 10 starts. She also had four wins in the 2022 meet; last year she had one out of 12 starts.
“So far, everything is going well,” she said. “We are taking the horses out and they have been ready to fire.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
