February, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Maxfield Remains Unbeaten With Facile Triumph In Mineshaft

Godolphin homebred Maxfield registered his fifth career victory without a defeat, easily winning Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Mineshaft Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La.

The 4-year-old Brendan Walsh-trained son of Street Sense, ridden by Florent Geroux, ran 1 1 1/6 miles on a fast track in 1:43.67 and paid $3.20 as the 3-5 betting favorite. Sonneman finished second at 18-1, with 12-1 shot Chess Chief third and 5-1 Blackberry Wine fourth in the field of six older horses. Wells Bayou was scratched.

Dinar was sent by jockey Shaun Bridgmohan to secure the early lead, going the opening quarter mile in :23.97, then opening up a sizable advantage in the run down the backstretch, the half mile in :47.49. Blackberry was a distant second at this point, just ahead of Maxfield, who broke inwardly at the start, and Chess Chief.

Approaching the far turn after six furlongs in 1:13.06, Dinar started to come back to the field, with Blackberry Wine and Maxfield moving as a team to tackle the frontrunner as they rounded the turn. Maxfield quickly took command, and after a mile clocking in 1:37.31 pulled away in the final sixteenth of a mile.

Mineshaft won his first two starts at two in 2019, including the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, before going to the sidelines on the eve of the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita with a chip in an ankle that required surgery. He returned the following May to win the G3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs, but wound up with a condylar fracture, not returning until taking the Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds last Dec. 19.

“It's great to get some nice successive runs into him and he's finally turning into the horse we always believed he was,” said Walsh. “He made a nice progression from that last race.”

Walsh was non-committal about Maxfield's next start, saying there are multiple options. “We'll enjoy tonight and we'll have a think about it, then come up with the next spot for him in the next few days.”

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Heavily Favored Mischevious Alex Captures Gulfstream Park Sprint

Cash is King LLC and LC Racing LLC's Mischevious Alex asserted his class to score a comfortable 3 ½-length victory in Saturday's $100,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3) at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The Gulfstream Park Sprint, a six-furlong dash for 4-year-olds and up, and the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3), a five-furlong race for older horses on turf, co-headlined a 12-race program that also featured a mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool.

Mischevious Alex, who was sent to post as the 2-5 favorite in a field reduced to four by scratches, recorded his second straight victory of the 2020-2021 Championship Meet with the April 3 Carter (G1) at Aqueduct or the Golden Shaheen (G1) on the March 28 Dubai World Cup undercard being targeted for his next start.

“The Carter is the primary goal. The Dubai sprint is in our minds, but we're going to talk it over and decide,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “[Cash is King LLC's] Chuck [Zacney] has a game plan to try to win a Grade 1 this year.”

Mischievous Alex, who won a Jan. 10 optional claiming allowance impressively while making his first start for Joseph off a five-month layoff, broke alertly to contest the early pace outside pacesetter Cajun Brother and inside Frosted Grace along the backstretch. Cajun Brother ran the first quarter of a mile in 22.45 with Mischevious Alex traveling comfortably to his outside under Irad Ortiz Jr. The odds-on favorite moved to a narrow lead on the turn into the homestretch with Frosted Grace looming boldly to his outside. Asked for some run at the top of the stretch, the 4-year-old son of Into Mischief offered a powerful kick to win with authority.

“It worked out well. He got the job done,” Joseph said. “He broke well and I was happy how he broke. For a brief moment, where he was in a little tight, Irad did a great job of maintaining his spot. After that, he stayed six furlongs strongly. At six furlongs, you don't have to worry about him stopping. He keeps getting stronger towards the end.”

Mischievous Alex, who captured the 2020 Swale (G3) at Gulfstream, ran six furlongs in 1:09.55.

“I got a good trip. The horse put me in a good position early. I think [Cajun Brother] had the speed from the break so I just let him go ahead. I sat there and was patient and when it was time to let him go, I just let him go and he responded really well,” Ortiz said. “He's doing great.”

Frosted Grace finished second under Luis Saez, a half-length ahead of Cajun Brother and jockey Miguel Vasquez.

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Taking It to the Max: Maxfield Stays Perfect in Style in the Mineshaft

Maxfield (Street Sense) may as well be known as the comeback kid at this point in his career, which has been plagued by injury and misfortune, but he always comes back swinging. Saturday's GIII Mineshaft S. at the Fair Grounds was no exception as the Godolphin homebred scored another good-looking win, taking his perfect record to five-for-five with his second straight win since undergoing surgery for a condylar fracture this summer.

Hammered down to 3-5 favoritism against an overmatched field, Maxfield was antsy in the gate and hopped at the start, settling at the back of the sextet through a :23.97 opening quarter. The bay inched up a bit two wide as 26-1 shot Dinar (Union Rags) ran off on a loose lead, well clear of the field through a :47.49 half-mile. He ranged up alongside Blackberry Wine (Oxbow) on the backstretch run and the pair overtook the tiring Dinar at the top of the lane. Maxfield inhaled Blackberry Wine about a stride later and sailed clear with ease to win for fun. Sonneman (Curlin) rallied to be second.

A debut winner going a mile at Churchill Downs in September 2019, Maxfield romped by 5 1/2 lengths in Keeneland's GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity S. a month later. He was the early favorite heading into that season's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but defected from the World Championships just days before the race with an ankle chip. Returning to action May 23, the homebred rallied to another convincing score in the GIII Matt Winn S. beneath the Twin Spires, but was forced off the GI Kentucky Derby trail a month later after suffering a condylar fracture to his right front leg during a work out. Making yet another comeback in NOLA Dec. 19, Maxfield proved as good as ever, registering a facile victory in the Tenacious S.

Pedigree Notes:

Maxfield's pedigree has Godolphin all over it from top to bottom, sired by Street Sense–a son of the operation's Street Cry (Ire)–and out of fellow Sheikh Mohammed homebred Velvety, a daughter of Street Sense's barnmate Bernardini. He is one of 11 Grade I winners, 35 graded winners and 77 black-type winners by Street Sense. Maxfield is also one of 11 Grade I victors, 24 graded scorers and 44 black-type winners out of a daughter of Bernardini, who has been increasing his prominence as a broodmare sire. Godolphin went to $3.1-million at the 2000 KEENOV sale to acquire Maxfield's second dam, MGSW Caress (Storm Cat), in foal to Coronado's Quest. Caress is responsible for Grade I-winning sire Sky Mesa (Pulpit) and MGSW Golden Velvet (Seeking the Gold), who is the dam of graded winners Lucullan (Hard Spun) and Innovative Idea (Bernardini). Maxfield was only Velvety's second foal and she has since produced the 3-year-old colt Dubai Vision (Medaglia d'Oro) and a juvenile filly by Medaglia d'Oro. Her 2020 colt by Street Sense died and she was bred back to Uncle Mo. This is also the family of graded winners Good Samaritan (Harlan's Holiday), Brave Nation (Pioneerof the Nile), Country Cat (Storm Cat), Della Francesca (Danzig) and Bernstein (Storm Cat).

Saturday, Fair Grounds
MINESHAFT S.-GIII, $200,000, Fair Grounds, 2-13, 4yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:43.67, ft.
1–MAXFIELD, 122, c, 4, by Street Sense
1st Dam: Velvety, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Caress, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: La Affirmed, by Affirmed
O-Godolphin LLC; B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P Walsh; J-Florent Geroux. $126,000. Lifetime Record: GISW, 5-5-0-0, $615,262. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
2–Sonneman, 118, c, 4, Curlin–Zardana (Brz), by Crimson Tide (Ire). ($375,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Courtlandt Farms (Donald & Donna Adam); B-Arnold Zetcher LLC (KY); T-Steven M Asmussen. $40,000.
3–Chess Chief, 118, h, 5, Into Mischief–Un Blessed, by Mineshaft. ($145,000 RNA Ylg '17 FTSAUG). O-Estate of James J Coleman Jr; B-Morgan's Ford Farm (VA); T-Dallas Stewart. $20,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, HF, 1. Odds: 0.60, 18.30, 12.90.
Also Ran: Blackberry Wine, Enforceable, Dinar. Scratched: Wells Bayou. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Al Quoz In Dubai Could Be Next For Leinster Following Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Victory

Rusty Arnold-trained Leinster came through in the stretch for the bettors who made him their 2-5 favorite, adding the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint (G3) to his growing list of graded-stakes victories.

The Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint, a five-furlong dash for older horses, and the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3), a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and up, co-headlined a 12-race program that also featured a mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool.

Leinster broke alertly from the starting gate to contest the early pace between horses before being eased back by jockey Luis Saez, who was content to track pacesetter High Crime and Inter Miami during a :21.03 first quarter of a mile. Saez eased Leinster to the outside on the turn into the homestretch and the veteran turf sprinter responded with a powerful stretch drive to catch High Crime by a neck.

“That was the trip that we expected. I know we had some speed inside, but he's that kind of horse that you can't rush him early. You have to let him get his feet,” Saez said. “When he came to the stretch, he knows what to do. He was always responding and it was easy for him. When we came to the stretch, I knew we were going to be OK. I know [High Crime] was a pretty tough horse, but Leinster he came from the layoff, too, so we didn't want to push him early. He did his job.”

Making his first start since finishing third in the Nov. 7 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Keeneland, Leinster ran five furlongs on a 'good' turf course in :55.29.

“I liked the way he did it. They were going head and head; they were going so fast, [Saez] took him back and gave him a breather,” said Arnold, who trains Leinster for Amy Dunne, Brenda Miley and Westrock Stables LLC. “It looked for a second he might not get there, but he that gear.”

High Crime, the 3-1 second choice ridden by Julien Leparoux, held second 1 ½ lengths head of Harrysontheloose and jockey Junior Alvarado.

Leinster won back-to-back Grade 2 stakes, the Shakertown and the Woodford, over a fast Keeneland course before finishing just a length behind victorious Glass Slippers over a 'good' Keeneland turf in the Breeders' Cup.

“Since he started running sprints on the grass, he's missed the board once, and that was in the [2019] Breeders' Cup [Turf Sprint]. He didn't get a trip and maybe he was over the top,” Arnold said.

Arnold said that the 6-year-old son of Majestic Warrior would likely run next in the $1 million Al Quoz (G1) on the March 28 Dubai World Cup undercard or the April 3 Shakertown (G2) at Keeneland.

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