Heart of Honor Gives Connections 'Shot in the Dark'

If trainer Jamie Osborne and Heart of Honor (GB), his entry in the May 17 Preakness Stakes (G1), seem out of place at Pimlico Race Course it's probably because there hasn't been a starter in the second leg of the Triple Crown bred outside of North America since the Ireland-bred Celtic Ash in 1960. "Bloody hell," Osborne said of learning that bit of notoriety. As surprising as that nugget might have been to him, Osborne pointed out that the colt has ties to the United States. Conceived in Kentucky, Heart of Honor is out of the Scat Daddy mare Ruby Love (CHI) and is by 2020 Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Honor A. P., who stands at Lane's End in Kentucky. The mare was sold in foal to David Redvers, who bred the foal, at the 2021 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for $90,000. The foal then exchanged hands in the sales ring three times, most recently with Osborne paying $172,341 at the 2024 Arqana Breeze Up Sale. Having raced almost exclusively at Meydan Racecourse, Heart of Honor debuted second at Southwell Racecourse, which is about a two-hour drive northeast of Birmingham, in the colt's native England. Owners Jim and Claire Bryce (Jim and Claire Limited) wanted a runner in the Middle East. "We were struggling to compete with Godolphin on the grass; Godolphin don't have a massive presence on the dirt in Dubai," Osborne said. "So we thought, 'You know what? Why don't we try and do something a little bit different?' And that did happen, we had a good season." That season included wins in his first two starts at Meydan followed by three seconds, including the UAE Two Thousand Guineas (G3) and the UAE Derby (G2), won by Admire Daytona (JPN), who went on to finish 19th in the Kentucky Derby (G1). How that competition portends to where Heart of Honor (2-4-0 from six starts, $340,919) fits in the Preakness field remains to be seen. The morning-line odds of 12-1 certainly suggest he has a fighting chance. "It's like reading Swahili for me," Osborne said. "He is one of the best horses in the Middle East, best 3-year-olds in the Middle East in the winter. His form stacks up with the horse that won the Saudi Derby (Golden Vekoma). And obviously, we've nearly won the UAE Derby. Quite how it relates to here, home of dirt racing? I don't have a clue." So why the Preakness? "There's nothing for this horse to run in Europe," Osborne said. "I had suspected that we could be bringing him home and giving him a nice long break, and then working back from next year's Middle Eastern season. So he came back from Dubai just looking fantastic and bouncing. And I thought this was just needed. We still got more to give on this push." That push includes the "penciled-in" plans of shipping the colt to Saratoga Race Course if he exits the Preakness in good shape and running in the Belmont Stakes (G1). Osborne said Heart of Honor eventually would return home for a break before gearing up for a return to the Middle East. "This horse has been in training, hasn't missed a day now since his debut in October of last year, and then we would be planning a Middle Eastern campaign for him to hopefully have one or two prep runs in Dubai and getting a spot in the Saudi Cup, and then hopefully back to the Dubai World Cup," Osborne said. Jim Bryce said that the one-month turnaround from the UAE Derby to the Kentucky Derby was too much, too soon for the colt. The additional two weeks to prepare for the Preakness, especially when factoring crossing the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the smaller field, made it an ideal landing spot. "The simple summary is you are only a 3-year-old once and we just thought, 'Gotta give it a shot.' It cost a lot in logistics to get him here, but he looks like he's traveled well," he said of his and his wife's first starter in the United States. The entire experience has been an adventure for the connections. Heart of Honor had to fly from England to the United States, where he was in quarantine at Churchill Downs before vanning to Pimlico. "I think he looks great," Osborne said. "Obviously, he did his last breeze, sort of 10 days out, you know, but it's not a perfect preparation. But I wanted to leave a bit on him, because he was going to have to come through a fair regime to get to this point." Osborne's assistant Jimmy McCarthy reported that Heart of Honor hasn't left an oat and after a couple of days on the sloppy Pimlico track, the trainer said he "looks bright." "He certainly doesn't look like a horse that's been doing all that traveling," he said. But the softer surface has taken some getting used to. Even when exiting his barn Wednesday, Heart of Honor balked at stepping on mulch that was giving way more than he cared. The adjustment was to be expected. There isn't much rain influencing the racing at Meydan. "We come from a country that's famous for rain. We haven't had any for about eight weeks. I had to come here to find some," Osborne joked. Osborne's Track Record in the U.S. Dirt racing isn't as foreign to the trainer as internationally bred runners are to this race. Osborne trained Toast of New York, who more than a decade ago finished a nose short of winning the 2014 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita Park. He also finished second in that year's Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) and returned to the U.S. years later for the 2018 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) before finishing second in the 2018 Lukas Classic Stakes (G3) and fourth in the Marathon Stakes (G2). He draws some parallels between Toast of New York's near miss and that of Heart of Honor in the UAE Derby, where he lost by a head. But his current runner's journey is a little more personal because in the irons is Osborne's 23-year-old daughter Saffie. She had a race in England Wednesday, flew to the U.S. Thursday, and will be at Pimlico Friday. "Toast was painful. But I think the UAE Darby was more painful, even though, obviously, the two races don't have the same sort of prestige," the elder Osborne said. "I think, yeah, for Saffie, it was really tough. And I think, you know, it brings a whole different dimension to what I'm doing when you've got your own child doing your riding. And yeah, it would have been amazing, but it wasn't. But you know, she's 23 years old, she's gonna get many more chances, but it was a tough one to swallow." The 57-year-old said having his daughter as his rider has provided him with a boost to his own career. He acknowledged that some people have suggested he go in a different direction—finding someone more familiar with Pimlico or more experienced. He said the Bryces have known Saffie for a long time and have seen her grow up. She's part of the team and there was never consideration to go in a different direction. "I enjoy working with her," he said. "I think it's kind of given me a new enthusiasm. I've been doing this 25 years, and unless you're producing very good horses every year, it's easy to lose enthusiasm. And I think since she's come along, she makes me feel a bit younger." Heart of Honor added blinkers for the UAE Derby, a fact that Osborne believes not only contributed to that race being the colt's best race to date but it gives him optimism that his best racing is yet to come. "Compared to most people here, we're shooting in the dark, but we, we understand that, and we're happy to roll the dice," Osborne said. "You know, when we ran Toast in the Breeders' Cup Classic... that was another shot in the dark. "We've never been scared to do something different. Try it. What's the worst thing that can happen? You come back with your tail between your legs. Luckily, I've got wonderfully sporting owners who are happy for us to take this shot. And yeah, we're going to enjoy it." The Bryces concur. They hope they have something special. "We're in a bubble riding a wave, hoping the bubble won't burst," said Jim Bryce.