2021 Florida Derby Entries: Greatest Honour

With the Kentucky Derby (G1) prep races in their final few weeks, usracing.com is publishing profiles on the contenders for the $750,000 Florida Derby (G1) on Saturday [March 27], a Derby points-qualifier offering 100-40-20-10 points to the first four finishers. Post-position and odds will be updated following Wednesday’s draw.

By Ed McNamara

 

Shug McGaughey trains his young horses the old-fashioned way, allowing them to mature at their own pace. Greatest Honour ran well without winning in his first three starts [third twice at 7 furlongs, second at 1 1/8 miles] before breaking through with a win at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 26 at Gulfstream Park.

It’s unusual for deep closers to do their best work at speed-favoring Gulfstream, but this come-from-behind runner is 3-for-3 there. Coming off impressive wins in the Holy Bull and the Fountain of Youth, both at 1 1/16 miles, Greatest Honour is the deserving favorite for Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile, Grade 1 Florida Derby.

“He was kind of a big clown and did what he wanted to do last summer at Saratoga,” McGaughey said. “Sprinting wasn’t going to be his bag. His three races here have been very good. The distances have helped, too — two turns. I think the farther we go, the better.”

Greatest Honour has the same running style as McGaughey’s only Derby winner. In 2013, Shug finally got the roses at age 62 when Orb surged from 17th after 6 furlongs to score by 2 1/2 lengths on a sloppy track. A hot pace set by Palace Malice [45.33-second half-mile] helped set up the deep closer.

Like Greatest Honour, Orb didn’t break his maiden until his fourth start. Then he won three straight at Gulfstream, including the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, before heading to Louisville. Fans of pattern recognition undoubtedly are fans of Greatest Honour and probably have invested in him in the Derby Future Wager.

 

2021 Florida Derby Entries: Greatest Honour

 

Post position: TBD

Odds: TBD

Trainer: Shug McGaughey

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Owner: Courtlandt Farms

Age: 3

Career record: 6-3-1-2

Career earnings: $351,940

Best Equibase speed rating: 106

Pedigree: Tapit-Tiffany’s Honour, by Street Cry

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

 

Notes: In his third start, and first around two turns, Greatest Honour was second by a head at Aqueduct to Todd Pletcher’s Known Agenda, whom he’ll face again in the Florida Derby … Besides the 2013 Kentucky Derby, McGaughey won the 1989 Belmont Stakes with Easy Goer, denying archrival Sunday Silence the Triple Crown … Jose Ortiz’s only classic victory came on Tapwrit in the 2017 Belmont. Ortiz won the Eclipse Award that year after leading the nation with 351 victories the year before. His older brother, Irad, earned the past three Eclipses.