First top-level winner for Noble Mission as Code Of Honor takes the Travers

Noble Mission has always lived in the shadow of his brilliant older brother Frankel but he is no black sheep of the family.

The ten-year-old, who retired to Lane's End Farm in Kentucky with three Group 1 victories to his name, on Saturday became the sire of a top-flight winner when son Code Of Honor stormed to victory in the Travers Stakes on dirt at Saratoga.

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Code Of Honor, who was promoted to second in the Kentucky Derby before landing the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes last month, pounced on the wide outside around the home turn and stayed on strongly to beat the front-running Tacitus (by Tapit) by three lengths.

The colt, trained by Shug McGaughey for owner-breeder Will Farish of Lane's End, is the eighth foal out of the Grade 3-winning Dixie Union mare Reunited, making him a half-brother to six other winners including the Grade 2 Best Pal Stakes runner-up Big League.

Reunited is in turn a half-sister to stakes winners Deal Breaker and Wind Tunnel and also to Dance Lively, the dam of Japanese Grade 3 scorer Live Concert. Further back it is the family of high-class performers Fiesta Lady, Thorn Song and Bsharpsonata.

Farish must have derived extra satisfaction from Code Of Honor's exploits – which have also seen him win the Fountain of Youth Stakes and take third in the Florida Derby – as the colt was not sold at just $70,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale two years ago.

Code Of Honor also, of course, burnishes the reputation of home stallion Noble Mission, whose first crop are three-year-olds.

Noble Mission is also sire of Group 3 Bahrain Trophy Stakes winner Spanish Mission, who features prominently in ante-post betting for the St Leger, and Listed-placed Life Mission. Another son, Humanitarian, is a dual winner for John Gosden and ran a creditable seventh in the Derby.

Noble Mission was, like the year-older Frankel, bred by Juddmonte Farms from Galileo and the Listed-winning Danehill mare Kind and was sent into training with Sir Henry Cecil for owner Khalid Abdullah.

Second on his sole start at two, he won the Newmarket Stakes and Gordon Stakes at three and the Tapster Stakes at four. He hit peak form at five when he landed the Gordon Richards Stakes by nine lengths and added the Huxley Stakes, Tattersalls Gold Cup, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (on the later disqualification of Spiritjim) and Champion Stakes to his resume.

He spent his first three seasons at Lane's End Farm at a fee of $25,000, which was reduced to $20,000 last year and cut again to $15,000 for 2019.

As in his racing career, he will have to go some to match the achievements of Frankel at stud – albeit the dual world champion has been granted better chances in terms of quality and quantity of mares sent to him.

Frankel, who stood at Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket this year at £175,000, is the source of 37 Pattern winners including eight who have struck at the highest level, the joint-world champion Cracksman and Oaks heroine Anapurna among them.

Kind is the dam of three other sons who have entered the breeding shed: Frankel's former pacemaker Bullet Train (by Sadler's Wells), who originally stood in America but now fulfils a dual-purpose role at Woodfield Farm Stud in Ireland; Morpheus (by Oasis Dream), who spent four seasons at Tally-Ho Stud until he was transferred to Haras du Grand Chesnaie in France in 2019; and Proconsul (by Galileo), who crossed the Irish Sea from Mickley Stud to Annshoon Stud this year.

Code Of Honor is another fine ambassador for the late foal brigade, as he was born on May 23.

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