Greatest Honour has a chance to make history when he lines up for the 69th running of the G1 Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park next Saturday (March 27). No horse has swept Gulfstream’s three Kentucky Derby prep races since they were established.
There have been 14 Florida Derby winners who have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby, and 15 who have finished first in the race including Maximum Security’s 2019 disqualification. That’s a better record any other prep race. But none have ever managed to sweep the Gulfstream Park preps, including the G3 Holy Bull Stakes, the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Florida Derby.
The history
The Florida Derby was initially run at Tampa Bay Downs, then Tampa Downs. In 1926, it began as the brainchild of Ohio investor Harvey Myers and Colonel Matt Winn of Kentucky and Churchill Downs fame, who headed the track’s operation. The winner was Torcher trained and owned by Earl Major. The race lasted there for only a year with no race in either 1927 or 1928.
It resurfaced at Hialeah Park during its inaugural season where it lasted until 1937 when the name was changed to the Flamingo Stakes.
The only notable winner of the Florida Derby at Hialeah was champion 3-year old filly Black Helen, who won the race and was targeting the Preakness Stakes to take on Kentucky Derby winner Omaha before her connections reconsidered. However, she did become the first filly since 1884 to win the American Derby and also the American Handicap. She would also finish fourth to Omaha in the Arlington Classic, when Omaha set a track record in one of the most impressive performances of his career.
With the name change, the race took a 15-year hiatus from 1937 to 1952, when it found its permanent home at Gulfstream Park, which held its first meeting in 1944 for merely four days with 18,000 attendees. The race was inaugurated the same year that the former grandstand was built - in 1952.
Since that time, not only have 14 winners managed to win the Run for the Roses, starting with Tim Tam in 1958, but 17 who prepped in the Florida Derby have also won the Kentucky Derby, including:
Pleasant Colony, who finished 4th in the 1990 Florida Derby
Strike the Gold, 2nd in 1991
Go For Gin, 4th in 1994
Then there are the Kentucky Derby runners-up who have won the Florida Derby:
Tiz the Law (2020)
Code Of Honor (2019)
Alydar (1978)
Honest Pleasure (1976)
Needles (1956)
Nashua (1955)
Also, nine Florida Derby winners are in the Museum of Racing Hall of Fame: Black Helen, Nashua, Needles, Tim Tam, Carryback, Northern Dancer, Alydar, Spectacular Bid and Holy Bull.
There have been 12 Florida Derby winners who have become 3-year old champion males, the last two being Maximum Security (2019) and Big Brown (2008), and only one Florid Derby winner who became Horse of the Year in the year of his Florida Derby victory: Nashua. Spectacular Bid was Horse of the Year the following year.
Of the other Gulfstream Park prep races, the Fountain of Youth Stakes was inaugurated in 1945, and has run every year since except in 1946, 1948 and 1952. Only three horses have captured the Kentucky Derby since winning the Fountain of Youth: Tim Tam (1958), Thunder Gulch (1995) and Orb (2013).
The Preview Stakes, which became the Holy Bull, was founded in 1990. Go For Gin became the first Kentucky Derby winner to also have won it. Since then, there has been only one other winner to also capture the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro in 2006.
The trainer
A Hall of Fame trainer since 2004, Shug McGaughey, who trains Greatest Honour, has a strong reputation for not campaigning a horse in Triple Crown races if he does not believe the animal has a strong chance of winning.
His patience has been well rewarded with a first, two seconds, a third, fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth. He had his first two entries 37 years ago: Vanlandingham (16th), who was injured in the race, and Pine Circle (5th) who then ran fourth in the Preakness and second in the Belmont.
Arguably, during the last decade McGaughey has been the third best trainer for the Kentucky Derby behind three-time winner Bob Baffert (American Pharoah, Justify and Authentic), two-time winner Doug O’Neill (I’ll Have Another and Nyquist). McGaughey won in 2013 with Orb and trained Code Of Honor, who was promoted to second in 2019 after the disqualification of Maximum Security.
During the end of the first decade of the 21st century, two starts became the fashion for successful Kentucky Derby campaigns as the last four Kentucky Derby winners only had two starts.
While his Kentucky Derby entries have had between two and four starts, McGaughey appeared to follow this formula with his 2013 entrant Orb sweeping the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby.
Code of Honor was campaigned differently after his runner-up performance in the G1 Champagne Stakes, being entered in the listed Mucho Macho Man Stakes, in which he ran a disappointing fourth before getting on track with a win in the G2 Fountain of Youth, and a show finish in the Florida Derby.
The horse
This year, McGaughey is taking a similar approach with this son of Tapit entering the Holy Bull after taking four races to break his maiden on Boxing Day. Since then, he has flourished with wins by 1½ lengths in the 8½-furlong Holy Bull with an 89 Beyer Speed Figure (BSF) and 5¾ lengths in the Fountain of Youth, also with an 89 BSF.
Given his breeding, Greatest Honour should love added distance.
His sire, Tapit, has three Belmont winners - Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016) and Tapwrit (2017) - and three runners up - Frosted (2015); Destin (2016) and Tacitus (2019).
In fact, in the 2016 Belmont, the top three were all by Tapit, including the Japanese challenger Lani. Greatest Honour is a grandson of Better Than Honour, who is the dam of two other Belmont winners: Jazil (2006) and Rags To Riches (2007).
Pointing to the Florida Derby as he did with Orb, McGaughey noted, “I’m glad we don’t have to run a mile and a sixteenth anymore. When they're going farther, I think we might see a little better horse.”
The competition
Other horses set to take on Greatest Honour in the Florida Derby include:
Spielberg
He was last seen finishing runner-up in the rescheduled Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on February 27, 4½ lengths behind winner Elusive Quality and netting a career best BSF at 90. Trainer Bob Baffert noted, “He came out of that race in great shape. He needs to get away from the gate well.”
Spielberg did win the G2 Los Alamitos Futurity last fall. The son of Union Rags out of the Smart Strike mare Miss Squeal, currently with 17 Kentucky Derby points, likely needs to finish at least third to make the gate at Churchill Downs.
Collaborate
After going off as the favorite at Gulfstream Park in his 6-furlong debut, the son of Into Mischief out of multiple Graded stakes winning mare Quiet Temper, finished sixth, a mere length and a quarter behind the winner.
In his next outing, a mile allowance race also at Gulfstream, the Three Chimneys charge was impressive in winning by 12½ lengths over leading older male Bennyfromthebronx, who is Charlatan’s half-brother. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr said, “The Florida Derby is at home and he just has to walk out of his stall,” giving the Gulfstream race the likely edge over the G2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland or the G2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct for his next start. He earned a 90 BSF in the race.
Known Agenda
This son of Curlin out of Byrama by the French stallion Byron broke his maiden defeating Greatest Honour by a head at nine furlongs. The next finisher was 21 lengths back.
In his next outing at Aqueduct, Known Agenda was third to G2 Remsen Stakes winner Brooklyn Strong. He followed that performance with his career-worst finish, fifth in the G3 Sam F Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, should have him back on track after a scintillating 11-length win in an allowance race at Gulfstream at nine furlongs, having worn blinkers for the first time. He earned an 82 BSF.
Soup And Sandwich
He won a 1m40y allowance race at Tampa Bay Downs last race and Mark Casse said this was enough to earn a start in the Florida Derby. The son of Into Mischief out of the Tapit mare Souper Scoop ran an 89 BSF first out in a 6-furlong maiden and followed that up with an 80 BSF in this last race. Hall of Famer Casse said, “He’s still pretty green, but we think there’s a whole lot of potential there.”
Should all go to plan in the Florida Derby, Greatest Honour will be McGaughey’s tenth entry in the Kentucky Derby and possibly the 15th Florida Derby winner to capture the Roses on the first Saturday in May.
Todd Sidor, an attorney by trade, has helped produce equine law seminars, and has been a member of racing partnerships for a number of years. His more than two decades passion and respect for the sport of horse racing will always make him, first and foremost, a racing enthusiast.