Thirty-five years after Irish trainer Dermot Weld pulled off a surprise when Go and Go upset the 1990 Belmont Stakes (G1), English trainer Jamie Osborne is hoping to pull off another coup in the American classic with Heart of Honor.
Osborne, 57 and a trainer since 2000, has limited but fond memories of Saratoga Race Course—which will host the Belmont Stakes for the second consecutive year June 7 with Belmont Park under construction. As a successful group 1-winning steeplechase jockey overseas in his first involvement in the sport, he rode at Saratoga sparingly in the early 1990s during the summer months, describing it as a working holiday. He guided Simonov to victory over jumps locally in an allowance race in 1991.
These days, Osborne's focus is largely on the flat—both abroad and for the past few weeks, in the United States with Heart of Honor, the runner-up finisher from the UAE Derby (G2) this spring at Meydan Racecourse. He brought Jim And Claire Limited's Heart of Honor to compete in the Preakness Stakes (G1), where he finished fifth, beaten 8 3/4 lengths at Pimlico Race Course by Journalism. Heart of Honor was fractious in the starting gate, broke slowly, and trailed by as much as 15 lengths in the early going. The 3-year-old dark bay or brown colt has a history of miscues, including occasionally starting slowly.
Speaking of the tardy start and lack of forward position, Osborne said, "I wanted to dig a hole and jump into it. I wanted to just crawl under a bush. I knew it was over pretty much."
He had a right to be encouraged that Heart of Honor kicked into gear late. His trainee passed three horses in the final furlong of the 1 3/16-mile Preakness under Osborne's daughter, Saffie. She will again be aboard Saturday in Belmont, which is over 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga due to the main track configuration at the upstate New York track.
Saffie recently won the May 31 Bronte Cup Fillies Stakes (G3) over York Racecourse aboard the Ed Walker-trained Scenic.
On June 5, Heart of Honor schooled in the starting gate under Saffie, while her father watched trackside and followed the 3-year-old colt back to the Clark Memorial Stakes Barn, just a stone's throw from the Saratoga paddock area. Since the Preakness, traveling assistant Jimmy McCarthy has overseen Heart of Honor's preparations.
Jamie Osborne, asked if he felt 30-1 Heart of Honor—who is 2-4-0 in seven starts with earnings of $400,919—was receiving the proper respect, seemed understanding of skepticism by bettors in a race in which Journalism and Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sovereignty are the heavy hitters.
"Well, look, you can only deal with the facts that are staring you in the face. You know, he was long way back, wasn't he, behind Journalism? So I don't know whether he's getting the respect he deserves or not. I'd just like to see him get a shot at it and not give himself such a big disadvantage early on.
"He's not as slow as he looks. He has a fairly decent cruising speed. He'll only use that cruising speed if he's not getting a massive sandstorm in his face, and he's on the back foot. So, hopefully he won't be on the back foot and he'll be able to sit somewhere within touch of the leaders close enough that if he's good enough, he's got a shot, like I say, rather than sort of turning in in a position where it's totally impossible."
Heart of Honor will attempt to become just the 10th horse to win the Belmont that was not born in the United States. Of those nine, six were foaled in England, two in Ireland—including Go and Go—and the final one, Victory Gallop (1998), was born in Canada.
Like Victory Gallop, Heart of Honor is bred more like an American horse than a British one—he was simply foaled in another country. Heart of Honor is by Honor A. P. out of the Scat Daddy mare Ruby Love, who was born in Chile and initially raced there before competing twice in the U.S.
Honor A. P. won the 2020 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and is a top 10 second-crop stallion who stands for $10,000 at Lane's End in Kentucky.
David Redvers, who would become Heart of Honor's breeder of record, bought Ruby Love for $90,000 from the Denali Stud consignment during the 2021 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale when she was carrying the colt that was to be born the next spring and named Heart of Honor.
Osborne said the Belmont Stakes was always part of a two-race classic plan, not an afterthought after a Preakness that didn't go as his connections hoped it would.
"Look, he's not going to run in Europe because we haven't got any dirt racing. We'll probably never run him on turf. So, after this, you know, it's about doing the right thing by him and sort of gearing him up for a winter campaign in the Middle East.
"I've kind of figured we've got nothing to lose by rolling the Belmont dice as we're here. We do feel he didn't probably show himself at his best in the Preakness, so let's have another go."
Depending on the pace of the Belmont, Heart of Honor's best chance might be to track the pace in third or fourth with an alert break. From there, he'll need to call upon his class, running every bit as well if not better than his nose defeat in the UAE Derby, simply to contend in a top-class American grade 1.
"I think it would (take) close to a miracle, but as Jamie says, it's horse racing," co-owner Jim Bryce said.
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