<p>Shug McGaughey just doesn’t take a horse to the Kentucky Derby for the sake of going. He only goes when he believes there’s a serious chance to win.</p>
<p>Greatest Honour might be the next horse from McGaughey’s barn to earn that shot.</p>
<p>The Hall of Fame trainer will send Greatest Honour into Saturday’s Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida as the 6-5 morning-line favorite, and that could be the last stop between the son of Tapit and the Kentucky Derby in five weeks.</p>
<p>“I’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” McGaughey said. “These races get more difficult as they go along, but I think he can overcome that kind of stuff.”</p>
<p>Greatest Honour has already won the first two key Derby prep races at Gulfstream this year — the Holy Bull and the Fountain of Youth — and now goes for the South Florida sweep, though it’ll hardly be easy. A field of 11 entered the race, which offers 100 Kentucky Derby points to the winner, 40 for second, 20 for third and 10 for fourth.</p>
<p>Greatest Honour, which already has 60 Derby points and is basically a lock to qualify, is starting from the No. 7 post. The Bob Baffert-trained Spielberg is the 4-1 second choice and will start from the No. 10 post, while third choice Known Agenda has odds of 5-1 for trainer Todd Pletcher and will start in the No. 8 spot.</p>
<p>Baffert has been the winning trainer in the last two Pegasus World Cups at Gulfstream, but this will be his Florida Derby debut.</p>
<p>“Maybe I can get lucky if I can win or run second,” Baffert said. “That would be nice. But it’s a tough task. We’ll give it a try.”</p>
<p>Baffert and Pletcher go to the Kentucky Derby pretty much every year, often with multiple horses. McGaughey is much pickier and has only been there twice since 2002 — both times with the Florida Derby as the last stop on that trail. Orb won the Florida Derby and then won the Run for the Roses in 2013; Code of Honor was third in the Florida Derby two years ago and then placed second in the Kentucky Derby.</p>
<p>Greatest Honour, should he come out of Saturday healthy, will likely follow their path. And to earn that chance out of McGaughey’s barn says plenty.</p>
<p>“My philosophy is unless we think we deserve to be there, we won’t be there,” McGaughey said.</p>
<p>The field, from the rail out, for the Florida Derby, a $750,000 Grade 1 race: Nova Rags, 12-1; Quantum Leap, 20-1; Jirafales, 30-1; Southern Passage, 30-1; Known Agenda; Sigiloso, 30-1; Greatest Honour; Soup And Sandwich, 20-1; Collaborate, 6-1; Spielberg; and Papetu, 15-1.</p>
