Whether he is conditioned by tarnished trainer Jason Servis or by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Maximum Security just keeps winning.
Tag: Racing
Laura’s Light Wins Del Mar’s San Clemente As Heavy Favorite
Gary Barber's favored Laura's Light made the lead turning for home on the turf course, then held off the late charges of two rivals to tally by three-quarters of a length in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 San Clemente Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.
Laura's LIght's rider was Abel Cedillo, who wound up capturing three races on the afternoon's 11-race card, including the G2 San Diego Handicap aboard Maximum Security.
Laura's Light, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Constitution, covered the mile on the greensward in 1:34.16 and paid $4.40, $3.00 and $2.60 as the 6/5 favorite in the field of 10 runners. She earned $90,000 for the victory and now sports a bankroll of $304,370.
Trained by Peter Miller, Laura's Light was winning for the fifth time in seven career starts. She was coming off a hard-fought victory in the Honeymoon Stakes on turf at Santa Anita on May 30 — her second G3 win this year.
Both of the Grade 2 races run Saturday are considered key preps for Grade 1 races later in the meet – the $500,000 TVG Pacific Classic in the case of Maximum Security and the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks for Laura's Light. Each of those races will be run at Del Mar on August 22 as part of a five-stakes program and both winning trainers today gave indications that their charges would be pointed in that direction.
Earlier on the card in the $65,000 Smiling Tiger Overnight Stakes, MyRacehorse.com and Slam Dunk Racing's Vertical Threat outran three foes to score by five and a quarter lengths under Heriberto Figueroa. The 3-year-old colt trained by Richard Baltas ran six furlongs in 1:10.47.
Racing resumes at Del Mar tomorrow with an 11-race card beginning at 2 p.m.
The post Laura’s Light Wins Del Mar’s San Clemente As Heavy Favorite appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Maximum Security Noses Out Midcourt In San Diego Handicap
Making his first start for trainer Bob Baffert, Gary and Mary West and Coolmore partners' Maximum Security – the 3-year-old male champion of 2019 and winner of the 2020 Saudi Cup last out on Feb. 29 – made a successful return to the races on Saturday, winning the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap by a nose over front-running Midcourt at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif.
Ridden for the first time by Abel Cedillo – pinch hitting for regular rider Luis Saez – Maximum Security covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.54 carrying 127 pounds as the 2-5 favorite, conceding five pounds to Midcourt and third-place finisher Higher Power. Ax Man finished fourth, with Combatant last in the field of five older runners. Sharp Samurai was scratched.
Maximum Security broke sharply but was overtaken early by Midcourt and jockey Victor Espinoza rounding the first turn. Going into the backstretch, Flavien Prat and Higher Power moved up alongside and past Maximum Security, with the latter slipping back several lengths behind the front-running Midcourt.
Midcourt set fractions of :23.74, :46.87 and 1:11.40 for the first six furlongs while being chased by Higher Power, with Cedillo urging Maximum Security to take on the pace-setter with just under a half mile to run.
The two horses separated from Higher Power at the top of the stretch, covering a mile in 1:37.91. In the final sixteenth, Maximum Security put his head in front, but Midcourt came back on approaching the wire, just missing.
Maximum Security was transferred to Baffert after the colt's former trainer, Jason Servis, was arrested on federal criminal charges stemming from an FBI investigation into doping of racehorses. The purse from the Saudi Cup was put on hold after the March 9 arrest of Servis, fellow trainer Jorge Navarro and more than two dozen others.
Maximum Security, a 4-year-old colt by New Year's Day who began his racing career in a $16,000 maiden claiming race at Gulfstream Park in December 2018, has won nine of 11 starts, including the Grade 1 trio of the Florida Derby, Haskell Stakes and Cigar Mile. One of his two defeats came when he crossed the wire first in the G1 Kentucky Derby but was disqualified for causing interfering on the stretch turn.
The post Maximum Security Noses Out Midcourt In San Diego Handicap appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Front-Running Volatile Rolls to Easy Victory in Vanderbilt
Whitmore spent much of 2019 chasing the now-retired Mitole, the eventual Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and champion male sprinter for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
