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Maxfield Goes Out In Style With Resume-Padding Clark Triumph

Multiple graded stakes winner Maxfield, one of the top older horses in North America, capped his racing career in style Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., as the 4-year-old colt swept past favorite Midnight Bourbon at the top of the stretch and turned back a late bid from Happy Saver to win the 147^th running of the $750,000 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade 1) by a half-length.

The lofty $450,910 first prize, thanks of a record-setting purse, lifted the dark bay or brown colt's earnings to multi-millionaire status: $2,001,812 from a record of 8-2-1 in 11 starts. He is a perfect 5-for-5 beneath the historic Twin Spires at Churchill Downs.

Owned and bred by Godolphin, Maxfield clocked 1 1/8 miles on a track rated “good” in 1:49.06 under jockey Jose Ortiz, who rode the winner for trainer Brendan Walsh. This was the first Clark win for each of the connections.

“I feel just delighted he got the job done like that today,” Walsh said. “It's a very prestigious race and it's very nice he could win it and go into his stud career like that.”

Breaking from the far outside post position in the field of eight 3-year-olds and up, Maxfield relaxed in the clear off the early pace set by slight 6-5 favorite Midnight Bourbon, the Preakness (GI), Travers (GI) and Pennsylvania Derby (GI) runner-up who dictated terms through the first quarter mile in :23.83 and a half-mile in :48.00. Chess Chief, the longest shot at 101-1, chased from the inside in third and Happy Saver, the winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) in 2020 and runner-up this year, was content to track from fourth at odds of 12-1.

Leaving the far turn after six furlongs in 1:11.70, Maxfield drew even from the outside of 3-year-old Midnight Bourbon with minimal urging from Ortiz. The two matched strides at the top of the stretch for about a furlong before Maxfield drew clear of that rival in deep stretch. Happy Saver continued his steady run from the outside to cut into the final margin but was second best to the winner.

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“He put me in the race today when he broke from the gate,” Ortiz said. “I could tell Happy Saver would be coming around the far turn and Maxfield felt him come alongside as well. He was able to dig down and really fight hard today. Hats off to Brendan and his team who have done an amazing job with him throughout his career. I'm very happy he gets to go out this way.”

Maxfield, at odds of 6-5, rewarded his backers with mutuels of $4.40, $3 and $2.20. Happy Saver, with Tyler Gaffalione up, returned $7.20 and $3.60. Midnight Bourbon, under Joel Rosario, was another three lengths back in third and paid $2.60 to show.

“He ran a huge race,” Gaffalione said of Happy Saver. “Hats off to Maxfield who was best today and ran great. I tried to get him into the race a little earlier just with the way the track has been playing. He ran a great race in defeat.”

Rosario offered no excuse for Midnight Bourbon's defeat. “I got a really easy lead up the backside and he was traveling well,” Rosario said. “(Maxfield and Happy Saver) were just best tonight.”

Militarist finished fourth and was followed by King Fury, Night Ops, Dr Post and Chess Chief.

This was the seventh career stakes victory for Maxfield and second Grade 1. At 2, he won the $500,000 Breeders' Futurity (GI) at Keeneland by 5 ½ lengths.

He entered the race off a second-place finish, 1 ½ lengths behind Art Collector, in the $500,000 Woodward (G1) at Belmont Park 55 days ago on Oct. 2.

Following his Breeders' Futurity win at age 2, Maxfield was the third choice on the morning line for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) in 2019 but was scratched from the race with a minor injury.

Maxfield returned in May 2020 and posted a one-length win the $150,000 Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs. He appeared to be a top contender for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) when it was delayed until September because of the COVID-19 pandemic but he was, again, forced to the sidelines with another setback.

Maxfield resumed racing action last December and won the $75,000 Tenacious at Fair Grounds, which was an ideal steppingstone to what would be a sensational 4-year-old campaign in 2021. This year, he won four of seven starts – the $200,000 Mineshaft (G3) at Fair Grounds in February; the $400,000 Alysheba presented by Sentinet Jet (G2) on the Kentucky Oaks undercard in late April; the $600,000 Stephen Foster (G2) in June; and Friday's Clark – with runner-up efforts in the $1 million Whitney (G1) at Saratoga in August and The Woodward and a third in the $400,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) in March.

Maxfield is the first horse to sweep Churchill Downs' Alysheba, Stephen Foster and Clark in a calendar year. For that matter, he's also the first horse to win both the Stephen Foster and Clark in the same year.

Next up for Maxfield is stud duty at Darley at Jonabell Farm where he will stand for $40,000. Maxfield is son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense out of the Bernardini mare Velvety and was bred in Kentucky by his owners.

“He's an unbelievable horse,” Walsh said. “I can't say enough about him. He's been through a lot the last two years. Today, he had to fight hard to get the job done and he ran great to hold off Happy Saver. It's hard to find another horse like him. It was fantastic everything came together. It's a fantastic way to cap his career.”

The Clark, named for Churchill Downs founder Col. M. Lewis Clark, was run for the first time in 1875 during the first racing meet at Churchill Downs, which was then known as the Louisville Jockey Club. Like the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) and Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI), the Clark has been renewed annually without interruption since its first running.

Racing at Churchill Downs continues Saturday with a 12-race program that begins at 1 p.m. (all times Eastern). The 95^th running of the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) – a “Prep Season” race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby – and the 78^th running of the $400,000 Golden Rod (G2) for fillies are the headliners on the penultimate day of Churchill Downs' 21-date Fall Meet. Billed as “Stars of Tomorrow II,” each of the 12 races is exclusively for 2-year-olds that may have aspirations of trail-blazing their way to next spring's Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.

There's a jackpot carryover of $210,134 on the 20-cent minimum Derby City 6, which covers Races 7-12 starting at 3:57 p.m. If the jackpot is not hit by a single winning combination on Saturday, there will be a mandatory payout on Sunday's 12-race finale. Also, there is a $4,971 carryover in the $1 Super Hi 5, which is offered on the final race of the day.

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Bees And Honey’s Comely Upset Gives Reeve McGaughey First Graded Stakes Victory

Trainer J. Reeve McGaughey took one step closer to following in his Hall of Fame father's footsteps when sending out his first graded stakes winner with Gainesway Stable and Andrew Rosen's Bees and Honey, who captured Friday's 76th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely for sophomore fillies going nine furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, NY.

McGaughey is the son of Shug McGaughey, a three-time winner of the Comely. En route to providing the younger McGaughey with his first graded stakes score, Bees and Honey ran in a first-level allowance event on November 7 at Churchill Downs, closing late to finish second at 16-1 odds behind graded stakes-placed Amendment Nineteen.

“I spent a few years up in New York and always enjoyed going to Aqueduct,” McGaughey said. “It just worked out that this race fell on the calendar as the last chance against 3-year-old fillies, so we took a chance.”

Breaking a touch slowly from post 5, Bees and Honey was four wide into the first turn as second-choice Played Hard commanded the pace through an easy opening quarter-mile in 25.49 seconds over the fast main track. Vegas Weekend, who entered off a four-race win streak, kept close company to her outside in second while under a hold from jockey Manny Franco.

Played Hard maintained her command through a half-mile in 50.18 seconds while Bees and Honey inched her way closer to the front under coaxing from Jose Lezcano. Bees and Honey battled to the outside of Played Hard in the first half of the stretch drive and drew off to win by 2 ¾ lengths in a time of 1:54.41. Played Hard held second by a half-length over the late-closing favorite Crazy Beautiful, who was in pursuit of her fourth graded stakes triumph.

Shalimar Gardens, Vegas Weekend and Hybrid Eclipse completed the order of finish. Army Wife and Ninetypercentbrynn were scratched.

“She broke really good today and I sat there. I lost a little ground in the first turn but she was pretty comfortable,” said Lezcano, who earlier on the program captured the Forever Together aboard Flower Point for the elder McGaughey. “On the backside, I dropped a little in and stayed comfortable the whole way around. She's a big filly and I started a little early at the five-sixteenths pole. She started gaining ground and when I really asked her, she looked good.”

The Comely was a first start beyond one mile for Bees and Honey. McGaughey said the distance played a big factor in shipping to Aqueduct.

“We really didn't have a chance to run her long like that and in all of her races she's shown she'll run as far as they'll let her run,” McGaughey said. “Every race she's run, she's gotten stronger in the last eighth of a mile. Coming up there to run a mile and an eighth on that track was a big part of it.”

McGaughey said the addition of blinkers for her maiden score in October at Keeneland has played a major role in Bees and Honey's improved form.

“They've focused her a little bit,” McGaughey said. “She wasn't quite running a full race for us the first couple times. She was really spotty, and it's got her to be more consistent throughout the race.”

McGaughey, who will send horses to Tampa Bay Downs for the winter, said Bees and Honey would likely stop in Ocala, Florida for a brief freshening before joining his winter contingent at the Oldsmar oval.

“We'll figure that out in the next couple days, but she'll start heading south,” McGaughey said.

Martin Garcia, aboard Played Hard, said his filly didn't quite get acclimated to the Aqueduct surface.

“I was really comfortable after going that easy, but when it was time to ask, she didn't love the track,” Garcia said. “The track is great but some horses like a firm track and others like a loose track, and in this case the track is a little loose. She was peddling and peddling and took a while to get going and when it was time to go, it was too late. She's a good filly and we got beat by a good horse.”

Carmouche, aboard Crazy Beautiful, said his filly was hampered after being bumped at the start.

“She stumbled leaving there and I wanted to be more forward than out the back door. It didn't set up the way I wanted,” Carmouche said. “They were going easy up front and I tried to get her up there so when the running started, she wouldn't have so much to overcome.”

Bees and Honey, a chestnut daughter of Union Rags, rewarded her backers in payouts of $28.20 for a $2 win wager as the second longest shot in the six-horse field. She banked $110,000 in victory, enhancing her lifetime bankroll to $180,700.

Bred in Kentucky by Gainesway Thoroughbreds and AR Enterprises Inc., Bees and Honey is out of the Smart Strike mare Wickedly Smart – a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Wickedly Perfect.

Live racing resumes Saturday at the Big A with a 10-race card featuring the $100,000 Central Park in Race 7, the $150,000 Discovery in Race 8, the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island in Race 9 and the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship in Race 10. First post is 11:50 a.m. Eastern.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Aloha West May Join Eclipse Thoroughbreds Teammate Independent Hall In Cigar Mile

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners could have as many as two contenders for the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile presented by NYRA Bets, slated for Saturday, December 4, at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, N.Y.

Aron Wellman, managing partner of the syndicate, said multiple graded stakes winner Independence Hall is confirmed for the final Grade 1 race at NYRA for the calendar year in his last start before going to stud.

Wellman added that Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Aloha West could also run in the Cigar Mile in pursuit of an Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter.

“Independence Hall is definite pending his next work at Churchill,” Wellman said. “The Cigar Mile is under consideration for Aloha West, but no decisions have been made.”

Trained by Michael McCarthy, Independence Hall registered a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure last out when going gate-to-wire in the Grade 2 Fayette on October 30 over a sloppy and sealed Keeneland main track.

Owned in partnership with Twin Creeks Racing Stables, WinStar Farm, Kathleen Verratti and Robert Verratti, the son of Constitution is 2-for-2 at a one-turn mile at Aqueduct when romping to a 12 ¼-length victory in the Grade 3 Nashua in November 2019 followed by a four-length score in the Jerome on New Year's Day 2020.

Aloha West, a two-time winner at Saratoga this summer, returned to the work tab on Wednesday morning for trainer Wayne Catalano, recording a half-mile move in 49.40 over the Fair Grounds Race Course main track.

“We wanted to put the Cigar Mile in play, which is why we breezed Wednesday, but we're monitoring him closely ahead of the race,” Wellman said. “That workout was designed to try to get a gauge on if we should pursue the race or not.”

A victory would make Aloha West the first horse to capture both the Breeders' Cup Sprint and Cigar Mile. Prior to his last out coup, which saw a 100 Beyer, the Maryland-bred son of Hard Spun was second beaten a neck in the Grade 2 Phoenix on October 8 at Keeneland.

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Cordmaker Continues Quest For MATCH Series Championship

Hillwood Stables' Cordmaker, the leader of his Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championships (MATCH) Series division and not without a chance to land the overall championship, is one of 11 horses entered in the $100,000 Richard Small Stakes Saturday, Nov. 27, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

The 1 1/8-mile Richard Small is the fifth of sixth legs in the 3-Year-Olds and Up Long–Dirt division. The final stakes in the division, the $100,000 Native Dancer at 1 1/16 miles, is set for Dec. 26 at Laurel.

Cordmaker, trained by Rodney Jenkins, is a 10-time winner, and multiple stakes winner, who is approaching $700,000 in career earnings. He has started in all five MATCH division stakes this year and has been following his normal work pattern since his last start in the one-mile Polynesian Stakes at Laurel Sept. 18.

Though Cordmaker crossed the finish line in second, the 6-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by Curlin was disqualified and placed sixth for drifting out at the three-sixteenths pole. It was the first time in seven 2021 starts that he officially finished worse than fourth.

Based at Laurel, Cordmaker has amassed 24 MATCH Series points including 5 bonus points for making his fourth start in the division last time out and will pick up another 2 bonus points with a start in the Richard Small. Regular rider Victor Carrasco is named again.

“He's going into (the race) real well,” Jenkins said. “He's very sharp. When the weather turned cool, he got cool. He likes it. We're going for the MATCH (title). He's ahead right now for the males.”

McElmore Avenue, owned by trainer Mary Eppler and RAM Racing Stable, will make his third divisional start in the Richard Small and will qualify for MATCH Series bonus money. Horacio Karamanos returns aboard the 4-year-old Maryland-bred gelding by El Padrino who finished second to Cordmaker in the Victory Gallop Stakes at Colonial Downs and fourth in the Polynesian.

McElmore Avenue is one of a handful of horses who would qualify for bonus money. He currently has 10 points, one less than Harpers First Ride, but that runner has been on the sidelines for months and isn't expected to compete in the Dec. 26 finale.

Park-based trainer Uriah. St. Lewis has entered a pair in the Richard Small: Forewarned and Informative, both owned by Train-Brook Stable. Forewarned, a 6-year-old Ohio-bred horse by Flat Out, won the 1 1/4-mile Ohio Endurance in his last start for his first victory of 2021. Forewarned has started twice in the MATCH Series division and has 3 points; a start in the Richard Small and the Native Dancer would put him in the mix for bonus money.

The overall leader in the 2021 MATCH Series is Hello Beautiful, who has 27 points and three starts in the Filly and Mare Sprint—Dirt division. Trainer Brittany Russell said the 4-year-old Maryland-bred filly by Golden Lad is being pointed to the Dec. 26 finale—a victory plus 5 bonus points for her fourth start would give her a maximum of 42 points; the minimum she could have depending on finish position would be 33 points.

MATCH Series division bonus money is awarded to the owner and trainer as follows: $20,000/$10,000 for first, $15,000/$7,500 for second, and $7,500/$3,000 for third. In addition, the owner and trainer of the overall points-earner regardless of division will receive $20,000 and $10,000, respectively.

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