HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With just 63 days until the Kentucky Derby, those in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park knew what was at stake as race time neared. “Acid test time,” Mark Hennig, the trainer of Bourbon War, said as he walked toward the paddock. A few minutes earlier, asked how he was doing, Garrett O’Rourke, the general manager of Juddmonte Farms, whose Hidden Scroll would go off the favorite, replied, “Ask me in an hour.” Shug McGaughey knew what was at stake, too. He was disappointed in Code of Honor’s 2019 debut in the Mucho Macho Man, but the Hall of Fame trainer had not lost confidence in the 3-year-old colt based on the way he had trained. McGaughey blamed himself, not the horse, for what had transpired. Still, this race would determine his path over the next two months. Code of Honor stepped up, winning the Grade 2, $400,000 race over a fast-finishing Bourbon War, who got a passing grade on his test and showed he, too, was ready to continue down the Derby trail. The picture was less clear for Hidden Scroll, who, in only his second lifetime start, was sent by jockey Joel Rosario into a scalding pace of 22.80 seconds for the quarter and 45.69 seconds to the half to outfoot the 132-1 outsider Gladiator King for the early lead. He paid the price in the final yards, fading to finish fourth. Gladiator King finished last in the field of 11. :: DERBY WATCH: Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders with comments from Jay Privman and Mike Watchmaker "I would have loved to have gone in 46 and three and maybe we would have had a little more to finish up with,” said Bill Mott, who trains Hidden Scroll. “He got wrapped up in basically kind of a speed duel in a sense with a horse he shouldn't have been." Code of Honor ($21) got a super trip under John Velazquez, who was able to save ground while fifth around the first turn and down the backstretch as a favorable pace unfolded in front of him. As the field went around the far turn, Code of Honor split the tiring Gladiator King as well as Vekoma, then cut inside the fading Global Campaign before switching outside Hidden Scroll nearing the top of the lane. He got the lead inside the furlong pole and staved off Bourbon War to win by three-quarters of a length. Vekoma kept on steadily to finish third, two lengths farther back and a neck in front of Hidden Scroll. Global Campaign was fifth, then came, in order, Union’s Destiny, Signalman, Everfast, Epic Dreamer, Frosted Grace, and Gladiator King. Code of Honor finished 1 1/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:43.85, which translated to a Beyer Speed Figure of 95. The win was a satisfying one for McGaughey. While he believed Code of Honor could run better, he admitted that as post time neared, “I didn’t know what to expect.” As the race unfolded, though, McGaughey’s confidence grew. He turned to his wife, Alison, and remarked that Velazquez had a good position and had pace at which to run. And then when Velazquez needed a response, it was there. “I was glad to see him kick like that,” McGaughey said. Code of Honor had had several twists and turns in his brief career, which has resulted in two wins in four starts. He won his debut sprinting at Saratoga, then was a fast-finishing second in the Champagne Stakes, which made him one of the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. But he took ill the week of the Breeders’ Cup and had to be withdrawn. He did not race again until two months later, in the Mucho Macho Man here on Jan. 5, and was flat as a pancake, finishing fourth as the 4-5 favorite. “I thought I had made some mistakes myself,” McGaughey said, saying he thought had been too cautious with Code of Honor, and likely had a short horse for the Mucho Macho Man. “Maybe he just wasn’t ready,” McGaughey said. “After the Mucho Macho Man, I said 'I’m going to train this son of a gun,' and he took it. “I felt he was doing good with the work we were putting into him. I was training him, and he was taking it. That’s what I wanted to see.” Velazquez, who had ridden Code of Honor in his debut win and the Mucho Macho Man, went to Payson Park – where Code of Honor is based this winter – and worked him a couple of times. “Johnny said we were on the right track,” McGaughey said. “We did a little more with his breezes, three or four five-eighths,” he said, instead of just going a half-mile. “If he was going to be this kind of horse, he was going to have to take it.” Now, McGaughey and owner and breeder Will Farish will see if Code of Honor – a son of Noble Mission – will take them to the Derby. Code of Honor earned 50 points for the win based on the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field for the Derby on May 4. McGaughey won the Derby in 2013 with Orb, whose final two preps were victories in the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby, and said he’d prefer to use a similar itinerary with Code of Honor. The Florida Derby is March 30. “If he’s slow coming out of this, we would look at the Wood or the Blue Grass,” he said of races on April 6, “but I’d prefer to stay here.” – additional reporting by Marty McGee