Del Mar’s 2020 summer meet ran with 25% fewer racing days than there were in 2019, and without spectators. Even so, the seaside San Diego-area track increased its betting handle 8% from last year. Race-starved Californians combined with action-hungry bettors outside the state to boost the track’s handle to $466.68 […]
Tag: Maximum Security
Appellate Court Upholds Maximum Security’s Derby Disqualification
On the cusp of the 2020 Kentucky Derby, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court decision validating Maximum Security’s disqualification in the 2019 Derby. In a unanimous 14-page decision handed down Friday, the three-judge appeals court upheld a November 2019 decision by a lower […]
For the First Time, Preakness Joins Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series
For the first time in the Breeders’ Cup’s nearly 40-year history, a Triple Crown race will be part of its “Win and You’re In†Challenge Series of races. The 145th Preakness Stakes became one of 44 Challenge Series races offering spots in the Breeders’ Cup field over the next two […]
Aqueduct’s Fall Slate Light on Grade 1s, Heavy on Juvenile Prospects
The New York Racing Association published its Aqueduct fall meet on Thursday, announcing an 18-day meet featuring 29 stakes races worth $3.41 million in purse money. Even with a reduced schedule, a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aqueduct’s stakes calendar offers bettors 11 graded stakes among those 29 stakes. Headlining […]
Saudi Cup Purse Money Released to All but Maximum Security
Nearly four months from its initial announcement to withhold Saudi Cup purse money, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced it will award prize money to the horses finishing second through 10th. That conspicuously excludes race winner Maximum Security. The JCSA said it will withhold prize money from Maximum Security […]
Uncle Chuck Heads to Saratoga for Travers Tangle With Tiz the Law
You won’t have to wait until the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby to see Uncle Chuck take on Tiz the Law. Not after trainer Bob Baffert confirmed he will send Uncle Chuck to New York for the Aug. 8 Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. With Belmont Stakes champion Tiz the […]
Maximum Security Passes His First Test Back By a Nose
All the pieces were in place to beat Maximum Security. He had a new jockey, a new trainer, a new track he hadn’t seen before — one that some of the best horses of their generations couldn’t figure out. And yet, while Saturday’s San Diego Handicap was the best opportunity […]
McKinzie Goes on the Road to the Crosby, Improbable off to Whitney
Go long and far, or go short and stay home. When it came to deciding where prize colt McKinzie would run next, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert opted for the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar over the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Instead, Baffert sends Improbable […]
Starship Jubilee Flies Off With Adventurous Upset at Ballston Spa Stakes
While the horse racing world was focused on Maximum Security’s return on Saturday (spoiler alert: he won), the other end of the country produced one of the more surprising upsets in the graded stakes world. That, courtesy of Starship Jubilee, who took down 2/5 favorite Sistercharlie in the Grade 2 […]
Maximum Security’s Return Casts Big Shadow Over San Diego Handicap
As hard as it is to fathom, given his dominance over major races, there are races Bob Baffert can’t solve. So in true Baffert form, for one of those races — the San Diego Handicap — Baffert is calling in maximum reinforcements. He’s bringing in Maximum Security, who makes his […]
Making Up for Lost Time, Del Mar Adds Extra Day of Racing This Weekend
After taking last weekend off due to the coronavirus, Del Mar resumes racing this weekend with an extra day tacked on. The California Horse Racing Board approved the track’s request for Monday racing, giving the San Diego area track four days of racing this weekend. Normally in this summer of […]
Del Mar ‘Takes Weekend Off’ After 15 Riders Test Positive for COVID-19
Del Mar abruptly canceled its weekend racing card for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after mass testing revealed 15 jockeys are positive for COVID-19. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club CEO Joe Harper said in a statement that in the wake of numerous Southern California-based jockeys testing positive out of the Los Alamitos […]
Maximum Security Returns to Racing at Del Mar’s San Diego Handicap
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert answered the question racing fans asked throughout the spring when he announced Maximum Security returns to action July 18 at Del Mar. Baffert told the Daily Racing Form 2019’s Champion 3-year-old male will run the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap. The 1 1/16-mile race […]
Luis Saez Ends Appeal, Starts Suspension From 2019 Kentucky Derby
After dropping his appeal, standout jockey Luis Saez began his 15-day suspension for his Kentucky Derby trip aboard Maximum Security that resulted in the horse’s disqualification. Saez, who leads North American jockeys with 132 wins this season, began his suspension Wednesday. It runs through June 3. His agent, former trainer […]
Officials Freeze Saudi Cup Purse Pending Internal Investigation
In the latest fallout from a long-running horse doping scandal ensnaring some of the sports top trainers and veterinarians, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced it is withholding the purse distribution for the $20 million Saudi Cup pending its own internal investigation. Maximum Security won the Feb. 29, $20 […]
Servis, Navarro, 17 Others Plead Not Guilty In Horse Doping Scandal
Thoroughbred trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro headline a list of 19 defendants who pleaded not guilty to federal charges involving horse doping during a Thursday arraignment and pre-trial conference conducted telephonically in the US Attorney General’s office for the Southern District of New York. The pair, along with numerous […]
Fallout from Horse Doping Scandal Moves Maximum Security to Baffert’s Barn
Federal authorities indicted 27 horsemen on Monday for using performance-enhancing drugs on thoroughbreds. The horse doping charges are shaking up barns throughout racing, with the biggest tremor involving Jason Servis, who just last week won the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup, the richest purse in racing, with Maximum Security, his […]
Process of Elimination Makes Maximum Security a Safe Bet in Saudi Cup
The easiest way to look at Saturday’s Saudi Cup is to go back to your old test days. Remember when your teacher told you to eliminate the wrong answers and, eventually, you’d arrive at the right one? Not only does this work for geometry and history, it also works for […]
Maximum Security Seeks Redemption in $20 Million Saudi Cup
Maximum Security had a year most owners and trainers would run with, culminating in his coronation as the year’s 3-year-old Male Eclipse Award Champion. But everyone who saw Maximum Security run knew he didn’t get the maximum out of his considerable talent. That considerable talent, more than anything he did […]
Resolute Group Ready to Test Maximum Security’s Defenses Saturday at Monmouth Park
Maximum Security makes his second start Saturday since his disqualification in the Kentucky Derby, squaring off against just six rivals in the $1 million Haskell Invitational Stakes. It’s a small but highly talented field in the 1 1/8 mile signature race during the summer season at Monmouth Park on the […]