This week we will go into it in more detail Chip Honchowinner of the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes on Dec. 20 at Fair Grounds. Chip Honcho earned his first 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and is in 12th placee on the latest Churchill Downs rankings.
Race summary: Chip Honcho hasn’t had a bad race in three career starts. He made his debut on October 16 at Keeneland Race Course in a seven-furlong maiden race and overcame a slow start to rally well to finish second, 2 ¾ lengths behind odd-on favorite Dr. Kapur. He returned to Churchill Downs at the fall meet on November 20 and was the 1.70-1 favorite in a first race held at a mile around one turn and on a muddy, closed track. The colt benefited from a much better start and was able to clear the field early, setting a solid but relatively pressure-free pace through the turn under jockey Jose Ortiz, and he had to work late to rebuff a challenge from second place and win by 1 ¼ lengths.
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen sent Chip Honcho to Fair Grounds for the Gun Runner, where he secured the services of Paco Lopez, his third jockey in as many starts. Chip Honcho made his first attempt around two turns and was positioned just behind and to the outside of pacer Crown the Buckeye, and Lopez kept the reins tight on his horse through the backstretch as the leader posted fair breaks. Chip Honcho stayed second at the top of the homestretch, and he steadily beat Crown the Buckeye in the final sixteenth, winning by three-quarters of a length over the favored Liberty National, who rallied late on the inside to beat Crown the Buckeye by a margin for second place. The final time for 1 1/16 miles was a slow 1:44.76.
Speed figures: Chip Honcho made incremental progress, as measured by his Equibase Speed Figure pattern in the Gun Runner, from 83 earned marks in his first two starts to 89. His Beyer Speed Figures have held steady at 81-82-81 through three races, and as it stands, this talented colt is a few rungs below the best in his crop. Of course, there is plenty of time to improve as you mature.
Running Style: Chip Honcho’s first win at Churchill Downs came from the front and was impressive as he surged to the front and set a solid pace over the doldrums. He turned back a mild challenge from the 45.93-1 longshot Marauder (also trained by Asmussen) and again rode clear at the finish in a gate-to-wire victory with the winner and runner-up being first and second at each point of the call.
Chip Honcho, stretched to two turns in the Gun Runner, was ordered to employ a pace-pressing strategy by Paco Lopez, pulling his reins shortly after the start and again for extended periods of time in the backstretch to ensure he stayed right behind leader Crown the Buckeye. The colt showed versatility in only his third start, pulling out a victory that, honestly, seemed more the result of Crown the Buckeye tiring late than Chip Honcho’s burst of speed.
Family tree notes: Chip Honcho is a son of the young stallion Connect, who was a standout middle-distance cross horse in 2016, recording victories in the Cigar Mile Handicap and the 1 1/8 mile Pennsylvania Derby. Connect is a son of leading sire Curlin, who was a two-time Horse of the Year in the late 2000s and often provides endurance to his offspring, but so far Connect has been most productive as the sire of horses like himself: milers and middle-distance runners (the best may be $2.3 million earner Rattle N Roll).
Chip Honcho’s mother is Miss My Rose, a daughter of Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Magician. Miss My Rose ran only twice and won both of her outings, a six-furlong maiden race and a seven-furlong stakes, both at Santa Anita Park. Although both Curlin and Magician have endurance influences deeper in his pedigree, Chip Honcho generally profiles more as a horse that would perform best at distances of about seven furlongs to one mile.
Derby potential: Chip Honcho has started his career impressively with two wins and a second, and he showed the ability to score just off the pace and win in his first stakes attempt heading into Derby 152. That said, he’ll need to get a lot faster over the next four-plus months to be a contender in the Classics and the question is how he’ll cover longer distances based on his slow finish in the Gun Runner Stakes and his bloodline. Based on what I’ve seen, this talented colt seems more suited to the Pat Day Mile Stakes presented by SAP on the May 2 undercard at Churchill than the mile-and-a-quarter Kentucky Derby itself.
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