The Grade 1 Clark Stakes provides the final opportunity for Maxfield to grab a Grade 1 win. It’s an opportunity for Midnight Bourbon to shake his seconditis and grab his first Grade 1. And it provides a great opportunity for Dr. Post and King Fury to grab validation in their […]
Tag: Maxfield
Essential Quality, Maxfield Headed to Stallion Careers After Final Races
Essential Quality and Maxfield, two of the biggest North American routing names of the last two-plus seasons, are both retiring to the breeding shed after their next races. Darley America, Godolphin’s North American affiliate, announced the pair will join the breeding and racing giant’s Jonabell, Kentucky, farm for the 2022 […]
Maxfield Won’t Go West to Breeders’ Cup, Stays East for Clark
In a move designed to deliver him a Grade 1 victory, Maxfield will pass up the Breeders’ Cup Classic, trading that loaded Grade 1 field for the easier pickings of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap. That race is on Black Friday at Churchill Downs. The Daily Racing Form first reported […]
Woodward Stakes Returns to Belmont Park With Wide Open Field
The Grade 1 Woodward Stakes returns to Belmont Park for the first time since 2005, bringing with it a field full of intriguing characters at varying points in their careers. And all seeking validation for where they are in those varying points. One of two Grade 1s on Belmont Park’s […]
Idol Worship: Big ‘Cap Winner Returns for Awesome Again Stakes
The last time we saw Idol, he was literally catching a Train – Express Train – who Idol ran down and passed just before crossing the wire of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. That half-length victory in one of the California track’s flagship events came on March 6, nearly […]
The Whitney: Quality Over Quantity Makes This the Year’s Best Race
The cliché “quality over quantity†washes over this year’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga like the wake from Knicks Go’s last race. It floods the zone like Maxfield’s last two outings and Silver State’s last trip around Belmont Park. If you’re going to send only five horses around Saratoga’s […]
This Stephen Foster Tune Sounds Like Music to Maxfield’s Ears
There is Maxfield, looming over the rest of the Stephen Foster field like the 1,200-pound behemoth he is. And there’s Maxfield, running under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs like the dominant older horse he has become. Turning Maxfield loose at Churchill Downs has produced about as reliable an outcome […]
Don’t Overlook These Kentucky Oaks, Kentucky Derby Undercards
The Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby undercards offer turf stars Colonel Liam and Smooth Like Strait. They offer filly stars Gamine, Shedaresthedevil, Sanenus, Aunt Pearl, and Envoutante. They also offer Maxfield, Roadster, and Max Player. And they offer one-time Derby hopefuls Jackie’s Warrior, Prevalence, and Gretzky the Great. It’s easy […]
Maxfield Puts Maximum Attention on Santa Anita Handicap
The Santa Anita Handicap was the race that put Seabiscuit into the Depression-era public conscience. It was the first race offering a $100,000 purse, earning it the nickname “The Hundred Grander,†back when that was real money. Now, Maxfield is putting the Santa Anita Handicap back on the racing map. […]
Risen Star Brings Rising Derby Points to the Weekend Stakes
This weekend’s stakes races bring us Essential Quality making his 3-year-old debut in one Kentucky Derby prep. They bring us the first win-and-you’re-in Derby prep, and they bring us a Derby prep that gives the winner a berth in the Preakness Stakes. They also bring back Monomoy Girl for her […]
Swiss Skydiver Returns to Track, Virus Knocks Maxfield Out of Pegasus
As one 2020 standout returned to training, another one returned to the shelf – albeit temporarily. Swiss Skydiver hit the track, running for the first time since November’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff, while a report said Maxfield suffered a virus that will keep him out of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. […]
Tenacious Maxfield Makes Return 2.0 on Perfectly Named Stage
You couldn’t pick a more aptly named race for Maxfield to make his long-awaited return – return 2.0 if you’re keeping track – than Saturday’s Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds. It’s a non-graded stakes and not where you’d expect to find an undefeated colt who was once mentioned near the […]
This Weekend’s Stakes Feature Derby Preps, Return of Ex-Derby Prodigy
The pre-Christmas lull before the graded stakes storm doesn’t mean there aren’t any graded stakes in this weekend’s racing slate. Nor does it mean this weekend misses good storylines or top-shelf horses. Take the Los Alamitos Futurity and the Mr. Prospector, your two graded stakes this weekend. Curious about potential […]
Not Every Horse Retired in 2020: Here are the Stars to See in 2021
Now that we’ve bid farewell to the Thoroughbred standouts who retired in 2020, which horses will we greet as the returning equine stars worthy of attention in 2021? We bid farewell to Authentic, Improbable, Maximum Security, Vekoma, Tom’s d’Etat, War of Will, McKinzie, Serengeti Empress, Enable, and Ghaiyyath in recent […]
Maxfield Injured, Star Colt Becomes Latest Derby Trail Casualty
Illustrating another example of the precarious nature of Thoroughbred horse racing, Kentucky Derby contender Maxfield injured his front right leg during a routine workout on Wednesday. He will miss the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby after suffering a condylar fracture in his leg. If this sounds eerily familiar, it should. This […]
Matt Winn Stakes Takes Center Stage for Derby Hopefuls
It’s the fourth Saturday in May, which brings us Churchill Downs’ headline race for 3-year-olds this spring. You can hear the dulcet tones of “My Old Kentucky Home†as the 10 horses enter the gate for the Matt Winn Stakes. No, that’s not a typo or the result of a […]
Maxfield Ready to Rejoin the Derby Trail at Saturday’s Matt Winn Stakes
The expectations surrounding Maxfield on his 3-year-old debut at Saturday’s Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs can be viewed through the prism of two other horses who recently returned from extended time off. The first: Bob Baffert’s Tale of the Union, who returned to the starting gate at […]