Derby prep: Honor Marie rallies from last, wins Ky. Jockey Club

It was only 25 months ago when Whit Beckman went out on his own as a trainer. It took only that long for him to get his first graded-stakes victory. That it came in his hometown made the story that much better.

“I’m from Louisville, and this was the first place I ever worked,” said Beckman, 41, after Honor Marie (8-1) closed from worst to first to win by two lengths Saturday night in the 97th running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club. “There are so many feelings that are part of the process it’s taken to get here. I’m just thrilled.”

The son of a veterinarian and a graduate of St. Xavier High about three miles northeast of Churchill Downs, Beckman is a former assistant to Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown. That he achieved his personal milestone in a points prep that has produced seven winners of the Kentucky Derby made it that much better a story.

“Working for Todd and Chad, I saw a lot of programs leading up to the Derby,” Beckman said. “Obviously, that is what the goal is for all these horses.”

Not among the individual candidates in either the pari-mutuel Kentucky Derby Future Wager or the 99 horses in the Caesars Nevada fixed odds for America’s biggest race, Saturday’s victory would have raised the eyebrows of most bettors. Honor Marie was the sixth choice in the Kentucky Jockey Club’s field of eight 2-year-olds. It was not, however, a surprise for winning jockey Rafael Bejarano, who had ridden the Honor Code colt to a win and a runner-up finish in sprints this autumn over the same track.

“In the first turn I wanted to save as much ground as I can,” he said. “By the three-eighths (pole), I wanted to make sure to get him ready and get him outside. I know this horse, he can come (from) anywhere. But when you have the best horse, you want to keep your eye out when you travel and get in the clear.”

The 1 1/16-mile race was the first time Honor Marie was asked to go two turns. In absolutely no hurry coming out of post 2, Bejarano had him 9 3/4 lengths off the pace in the first turn. Nomos (17-1), who would finish last, set a pedestrian early pace with fractions of 23.70 and 48.45 seconds. One Red Cent (71-1), who would fade to seventh, had the lead briefly through the dawdling, three-quarter-mile clocking of 1:13.40.

Even though the going was slow in front of him, Bejarano kept biding his time, especially since the field was closely packed on the backstretch.

“There was a bunch of horses at the half-mile,” he said. “They almost raced head to head with each other. I said this was my opportunity. I wanted to make sure to get him down and get into the clear.”

Still seventh but only 2 1/2 lengths off the lead late in the second turn, Bejarano tipped Honor Marie six wide and started picking off rivals. When they passed the eighth pole, the rest of the field was in his dust. After getting the first mile in 1:38.01, Honor Marie finished with a winning time of 1:44.31 over the fast main track on a calm, 46-degree night.

Real Men Violin (5-1), a maiden winner who took Brian Hernandez Jr. on an inside trip only to find traffic coming out of the far turn, closed from fifth to manage an impressive second.

“Every time you lead him over he runs well,” said trainer Kenny McPeek, who has seen the Mendelssohn colt finish second in four of his six races. “We’re just going to probably back off him. He’s run hard all year, but he seems to be really sturdy, and we’ll probably regroup.”

Stretch Ride (4-1), who was on his toes and tried to crawl under a rail coming into the paddock, stalked the leaders throughout and finished third, three lengths behind the winner. Iroquois (G3) runner-up Risk It (7-2) was rank throughout and came in fourth. Post-time favorite Awesome Road (8-5) faded from a close second in the far turn to finish fifth.

The top five finishers earned 10-5-3-2-1 points toward qualifying for the Derby on May 4.Dancing Groom (8-1), One Red Cent and Nomos finished sixth through eighth in that order.

Honor Marie paid $19.62, $6.80 and $4.26; Real Men Violin $5.82 and $3.86; and Stretch Ride $4.16.

A winter at Fair Grounds in New Orleans is in the plans for Honor Marie, a $40,000 yearling purchase who is owned Texas-based Kerry and Alan Ribble. Beckman sounded like he was leaning against a January run in the Lecomte (G3). The Risen Star (G2) and Louisiana Derby (G2), however, may be on the horizon.

“We’re going to try to plan something out when we go to Fair Grounds,” Beckman said. “I think that’s from what I understand a good surface. I wasn’t really keen on going down to Florida. I’ve never gone to Fair Grounds for the whole winter, so we’re going to give it a shot.”

Instead of the palm trees and beaches that he got to know with Pletcher and Brown, it will be Cajun cuisine and the Bayou this winter for Beckman.

As for Honor Marie? As Beckman put it, “I think this horse fits down there.”