Walk of Stars really only has one way of running and he set off with his usual early speed, reaching 50 km/h in just 5.6s when the gates opened and getting to the first pole in 20.35s. By the time that they passed the 2nd pole Heart of Honor was already 0.83s behind, but Saffie Osborne didn’t panic. Heart of Honor was 0.75s behind the early leader (New Gem) in November and still won with something in hand, so he was allowed to gather stride. Once he picked up, he actually ran the fastest 3rd furlong split in the field in 11.82s, but it was the data he produced in the home straight that interests me most.

Heart of Honor was the fastest horse in the field for each of the final 3 furlongs. We probably didn’t need the data to tell us that as the video replay is enough to show that he was the horse that was moving forwards with momentum at that point. However, penultimate furlongs of 12.61 and 12.78s were significantly quicker than his 2 main rivals, who ran 12.72 and 13.00s (Artorius) and 12.83 and 13.14s (Walk of Stars) respectively. The 2 of them clearly paid for their early exertions, especially on their first starts of the season, but whilst their average stride frequency figures were falling, Heart of Honor maintained an average of 2.2 per second for the 6th, 7th and 8th furlongs as his stamina and fitness told. 

He had the highest late speed figure in the field at 54.9 km/h and whilst his rivals will presumably take a step forward from this, Heart of Honor has at least confirmed his place at their level. Walk of Stars faded and with his running style, there is always the chance that competition for the early lead is going to leave his petrol gauge on the red in the closing stages. Perhaps more interestingly, Artorius recorded the fastest run-out speed in the field at 47.6 km/h. In part that is because Saffie Osborne eased up on Heart of Honor when it became clear that he had the race in hand (his run-out speed was 47.5 km/h), but it also suggests that despite working very hard to get the better of Walk of Stars, Artorius wasn’t entirely running on empty. He seems the more likely of the pair to repel the late challenge of Heart of Honor if and when they meet again.

Heart of Honor’s connections rolled the dice in the US after his season in Dubai and whilst he didn’t lose anything in defeat, the nature of the US tracks and the way those races were run probably didn’t suit. His strong finishing style is much better suited to the long straight at Meydan and he has confirmed the promise that he showed this time last year in his 2 starts so far this season. It will be interesting to see if he can uphold this form once the fitness edge over his rivals has been eroded, but he should now be on the cusp of some Dubai World Cup conversations after this victory and he is a credit to the Osborne’s as a result.