LOUISVILLE, Ky. – More than a half-dozen horses who contested last year’s Kentucky Derby or Oaks are back to compete at Churchill Downs this Derby week. The first to pop up is Honor Marie in Wednesday’s $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon. And while the question for many heading into the Derby is if they can go the 1 1/4 miles, trainer Whit Beckman wanted to go even longer with his charge. He finally gets the chance in this 1 1/2-mile race.
“I’ve always wanted to run him a mile and a half, but obviously, with the 3-year-old season, there’s not a lot of races at that distance, and the Belmont was a mile and a quarter,” Beckman said. “So towards the end of the year, we thought a break would serve him, so this race, timing-wise, is in a good spot. I think with these type of longer races, I think his stamina will set him up where he’s hopefully a little closer, and that sustained run that he’s got, I hope the added distance will just make that more effective.”
There is an opening at the top of the marathon division, as Next, who won the 2024 Isaac Murphy, has not breezed since February after missing time due to winter weather and a minor illness. Grade 2 winner Honor Marie and morning-line favorite Lambeth, coming off a stakes score, are in the divisional conversation, pending Wednesday’s result.
Honor Marie first showed his quality winning the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club in fall 2023 at Churchill Downs. The following spring, a runner-up effort in the Louisiana Derby, in which he closed from 10th early, kept him in the Triple Crown conversation. He was eighth in the Kentucky Derby and fourth in the Belmont Stakes, improving his position late both times. But then he was a flat eighth in the Travers Stakes and got time off.
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Honor Marie got back on the work tab in January and has breezed steadily, including in company with his Kentucky Derby-bound stablemate, Flying Mohawk. But despite that foundation, Beckman felt Honor Marie “absolutely” needed the race when he finished a non-threatening seventh in the restricted American Pharoah Stakes on March 29 at Oaklawn.
“As far as the setup – the track and everything about it – it wasn’t something we were necessarily going into with expectations of winning, just kind of getting him off the bench and letting him stretch his legs,” Beckman said of the March effort. “It just gets them to know they’re back in that competitor’s mentality, get back into the mix of things, and he’s responded. He’s really come out good. He’s sharp and just loving life right now.”
Two with marathon experience also are emerging from starts at Oaklawn. Lambeth, trained by Joe Sharp, and Game Warden, trained by Norm Casse, were one-two all the way in the Temperence Hill Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on March 28. Lambeth rated exceptionally kindly under Brian Hernandez Jr., who retains the mount, to get modest fractions and power clear by 3 1/2 lengths. Hernandez, who seemed to fit the colt well, said he “looked like he was looking for more” going three turns for the first time. On paper, Lambeth also appears the most committed front-runner in Wednesday’s race, which would again make him dangerous.
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