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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