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‘He’s Matured Beautifully’: Undefeated Maxfield Returns To The Races In Saturday’s Tenacious

A potentially lucrative and prolific 2021 campaign gets underway in the twilight of 2020 when Maxfield makes his long-anticipated return to the races in Saturday's $75,000 Tenacious Stakes at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La. Run as the finale, the 1 1/16-mile Tenacious is the last of six $75,000 stakes run as part of the 13-race Santa Super Saturday card. Clearly, the eyes of the racing world will be focused on Fair Grounds as the undefeated Maxfield makes his first start since May.

Godolphin LLC's homebred Maxfield (post 6 at 8-5 on the morning line with Florent Geroux to ride) has had plenty of heartaches sprinkled in amongst a perfect 3-for-3 lifetime record for trainer Brendan Walsh. He was forced to miss the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a minor foot injury and then got derailed off the Kentucky Derby trail soon after his win in Churchill's May 23 Matt Winn (G3). The 3-year-old son of Street Sense came out of a June 10 workout with a condylar fracture of his right front cannon bone, which prompted his connections to scrap any thoughts at a run in the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

“We always thought he'd be a nicer 3-year-old, so to come back the way he did, then to lose him for the Derby was terribly disappointing,” Walsh said. “But at least we're getting another go with the horse. It would have been a terrible shame if we didn't get him back and he couldn't show what we think he's capable of.”

Maxfield broke his maiden on debut at Churchill in September 2019 and turned around a month later to win Keeneland's prestigious Breeders' Futurity (G1) by 5 ¼ lengths. He didn't resurface until the 2020 Matt Winn and now reappears in the Tenacious. With just three races in a stop-and-start career, Maxfield has plenty of upside as a lightly raced colt. He's worked eight times since late October, most recently logging 4 furlongs in :48.80 on Nov. 13 at Fair Grounds.

“He came out of his work great and we're looking forward to Saturday,” Walsh said. “We're happy what he's done. It (the Tenacious) was in my mind for a while, with the timing, and I think Fair Grounds will suit the horse, with the long straight and all. We haven't gotten anywhere near the bottom of him yet. He's as good as ever; he's matured beautifully, physically-speaking.”

Maxfield figures odds-on in a Tenacious that drew seven runners, though he spots recency to several, including Courtlandt Farms' Sonneman (post 5 at 3-1 with Ricardo Santana Jr.), who enters off a rousing optional-claiming win Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs. The 3-year-old son of Curlin has run five times for trainer Steve Asmussen after beginning his career with trainer Mark Hennig. He was the runner-up in Churchill's Pat Day Mile (G2) three back in September before running second in a Keeneland optional-claimer in October. Sonneman is 3-for-9 lifetime and has a plenty of early tactical speed that will enable him to get first run on Maxfield.

Lothenbach Stables Inc's Captivating Moon (post 3 at 9-2 with Brian Hernandez Jr.) won the local “off-the-turf” Buddy Diliberto Memorial on the Santa Super Saturday card last year and he is cross-entered in the race again this year. The 5-year-old son of Malibu Moon is winless in seven starts this year for trainer Chris Block but he has faced some tough competition. He was fourth to Silver Dust in the local Mineshaft (G3) in February before running second to By My Standards in the New Orleans Classic (G2) here in March. Captivating Moon is 4-for-26 lifetime and would be a stretch danger should he start.

Completing the Tenacious field from the rail out: Cool Bobby (12-1 with James Graham), a potential pace-setter for trainer Cherie DeVaux; G M B Racing's Locally Owned (post 2 at 5-1 with Miguel Mena), who enters off an optional-claiming win November 11 for trainer Al Stall Jr.; Wayne T Davis' Mocito Rojo (post 4 at 8-1 with Jack Gilligan), who won the Lukas Classic (G3) at Churchill in 2019 for trainer Shane Wilson but is just 1-for-8 since; and Al Rashid Stables LLC's Dinar (post seven at 12-1 with Shaun Bridgmohan), a close fourth two-back in Churchill's Ack Ack (G3) for DeVaux.

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Unbeaten Maxfield Records First Breeze On Comeback Trail

Godolphin homebred Maxfield was back on the work tab for the first time in four months, posting a three-eighths of mile breeze in :37.40 Sunday morning at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Winner of the Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland last fall and the Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs in May in his lone 2020 start, Maxfield was sidelined in June by a condylar fracture of his right front. He began jogging at Churchill the middle of September and has been galloping at Keeneland since the first of October.

“We are kicking a few ideas around but there is nothing planned for him right now,” trainer Brendan Walsh said after the work about Maxfield's possible return to racing.

A 3-year-old colt by Street Sense, Maxfield was produced from the Bernardini mare Velvety, the latter a half-sister to G1 winner Sky Mesa. Maxfield deputed at Churchill on Sept. 14, 2019, coming from well off the pace to win a one-mile maiden race by three-quarters of a length. His Breeders' Futurity victory was even more impressive, rallying from ninth to win by 5 1/2 lengths going away.

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Undefeated Maxfield Returns To Training After Rehabbing Condylar Fracture

Godolphin's undefeated homebred Maxfield, once considered a top contender for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby (Grade 1), has returned to trainer Brendan Walsh's barn at Churchill Downs after rehabbing a condylar fracture that removed him from Derby contention.

Maxfield, the Grade I-winning son of Street Sense, began light training last week at Churchill Downs after he missed about 90 days of training from a non-displaced lateral condylar fracture that he suffered June 10 at Keeneland. At the time, the Breeders' Futurity (G1) and Matt Winn (G3) winner was prepping for the July 11 Blue Grass Stakes (G2).

It's been a trying few months for Walsh whose Derby dreams were dashed when Maxfield was sidelined, but last week he lost his close friend, champion Irish jockey Patrick Smullen to pancreatic cancer. Walsh, who grew up in Ireland, spent several years alongside Smullen while working for Godolphin in Dubai.

“He's gone way too soon, unfortunately,” Walsh said on “At the Races with Steve Byk.” “He was just a great guy. I've known Patrick for well over 20 years. We met in Dubai and he'd come out during the winter to ride. When he first came to Dubai I knew he was my kind of guy – with a quiet demeanor and was easy going. We've been the best of friends since.

“He always took a great interest about what was going on over here. He loved coming over here to ride. He loved our racing. He loved the Breeders' Cup. He'd always ask about our jocks like Julien (Leparoux) and Johnny (Velazquez). He made a lot of friends over here and it was just the mark of the man of who he was. He was diagnosed a couple of years ago and the last couple of months he was very, very sick. We always talked and, on two occasions, he thought he had cancer beat. I have a text from him the other week and it was most positive text I got from him in the last couple of months. When I think about it, I think it was his way of telling people to not be upset. I think he knew his time was coming. He did some amazing things during the latter part of his life and helped raise more than $3 million for pancreatic cancer research. It was one of his proudest achievements. It was just another feather in the cap of the person he was.”

Smullen, who was a nine-time Irish champion jockey, never rode in any races for Walsh but spent vacation one winter in South Florida at Palm Meadows.

“He came over and galloped for a week one time in Palm Meadows,” Walsh said. “…He always loved it here It was on his bucket list to see the Derby. Unfortunately it didn't materialize.”

Plans for Maxfield's return to the races have not been finalized.

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‘Progressive’ Ny Traffic Could Take Another Step Forward In Saturday’s Haskell

Cash is King, LC Racing and Paul Braverman's Ny Traffic has a trio of graded stakes placings on his resume, and will be looking to add a win to that list in this Saturday's Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. The 3-year-old son of Cross Traffic drew the outside post in the field of seven, and will be ridden by regular jockey Paco Lopez.

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. has enjoyed seeing the colt move forward over the first half of the 2020 season, beginning with an allowance win at Gulfstream in January. Shipped over to New Orleans for the Risen Star, Ny Traffic finished third. In March, the colt ran a good second behind Wells Bayou in the Louisiana Derby.

After a short break, Ny Traffic returned to the races in the G3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 23. The colt ran a big race to finish second to top Derby contender Maxfield, beaten a length at the wire.

“I watched that race with such a rare feeling because I know how important it was to finish in the first two or even the first three, and so when he crossed the wire, I felt really good,” Joseph said on Wednesday's media teleconference organized by the NTRA. “Normally, you run second in a race, you feel a little disappointed, but there was no disappointment in me. I knew I ran behind a really nice horse, Maxfield, and just to run so close to him, it was an honor to see our horse show up but continue to improve himself.”

Ny Traffic currently has 70 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, likely enough to guarantee him a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in September. Should the colt continue to show improvement the way he did in the first part of the year, Ny Traffic could be a major player in the Haskell.

“It hasn't been huge jumps, but it's been just progressive jumps,” said Joseph. “And that's what you want to see from a 3-year-old because he's headed in the right direction. I don't think he was the best horse of the crop, but the way things have worked out, he's just climbing higher and higher.”

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