Honor Code colt Max Player pulls out stops to upset Mystic Guide in Suburban

Godolphin's Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide had to play second fiddle to Honor Code colt Max Player in Saturday's Grade 2 Suburban Stakes at Belmont Park.

After moving up along the rail to gain a narrow lead at the top of the stretch, the homebred son of Ghostzapper fought gamely to the wire but was unable to repel a determined bid by George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbreds' Max Player, who poked a nose in front at the sixteenth pole and continued battling until he posted a hard-fought victory by a neck.

"He's kind of a funny horse," said assistant trainer Toby Sheets, who saddled Max Player for trainer Steve Asmussen. "He always has more, but sometimes he doesn't give it. He had a clear trip today and that helped so much. He finished well. He needed a little confidence builder and he got one today. He ran a nice race."

Bred by K & G Stables in Kentucky, the four-year-old is a half-brother to the Balldoyle-trained Champagne Stakes winner and Middle Park third Seahenge, a son of the late Scat Daddy, and the Grade 3-placed City Zip colt Urban Bourbon.

Max Player is the fifth foal out of the placed Not For Love mare Fools In Love, who has produced four stakes-placed runners. Her most recent foals are two-year-old and weanling colts from Ulysses and a yearling Frankel filly.

Max Player went off at 11-1 in the Suburban, his popularity at the betting windows diluted by a string of weak efforts in some of the sport's top races. Third last year in the Belmont and the Travers Stakes, he was unplaced in subsequent starts in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Saudi Cup.

Most recently he was sixth in the Pimlico Special Match Series Stakes, before the Suburban helped to draw a line through those performances.

"He was training really, really well," said Sheets. "This puts him back on the map. We'll enjoy today and go from there."

As well as the victorious son of Honor Code ran, for the Mystic Guide camp there was disappointment that was balanced by their colt's competitive performance on a sloppy, sealed racetrack that should give him better conditioning for the Grade 1s on the horizon.

Trainer Michael Stidham reflected: "Three months away and he comes back on a very difficult racetrack. Even though he handled the [sloppy] track at Oaklawn Park, this was a totally different surface.

"[Jockey] Luis Saez said he was tired through the lane. It's not that surprising that a horse coming off three months might get tired off this kind of a racetrack. Certainly there was no disgrace in defeat. He ran hard and ran well. We're going onward and rolling toward the Breeders' Cup. We'll see how he comes out of it and then start talking about what's next."

Jimmy Bell, president of Godolphin USA, also categorised the Suburban as a useful effort in the overall scheme of getting to the Classic and chasing an Eclipse Award.

Mystic Guide just part of Godolphin's awesome armoury

"The takeaway is that this was a game effort. He was certainly trying the whole way down the stretch. [Saez] said he got tired and rightfully so," Bell said about the 4-5 favourite, who was first in the most recent National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll and second in the initial Breeders' Cup Classic rankings.

"The encouraging thing is that he never quit. We're disappointed in not winning but we're very happy in his effort. It's something to build on."

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