San Diego Handicap | Horse Racing Free Tips

Maximum Security Returns To Fourth Position In NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

Champion Maximum Security, who led the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll in early March, has moved back into the top five of the rankings this week following his victory in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar July 25.

In his first start since taking the $20 million Saudi Cup on February 29, Maximum Security showed his grit when he prevailed by a nose over Midcourt in the 1 1/16-miles San Diego Handicap. That effort – which was also his first since joining the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert – earned the 2019 Eclipse Award-winner for champion 3-year-old male 2 first-place votes and 228 points this week, moving him from tenth to fourth overall in the poll standings.

Ranking ahead of Maximum Security is fellow champion Midnight Bisou, who continues to lead the poll with 22 first-place votes and 365 points as she readies for her expected run in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 1. Midnight Bisou worked a half-mile in :50.55 on Monday morning in preparation for her title defense of Saturday's test.

Tom's d'Etat, who is expected to start in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga, holds in second with 10 first-place votes and 335 points while fellow top-level winner Vekoma is third with 2 first-place votes and 294 points.

Zulu Alpha (158 points) sits behind Maximum Security in the fifth position followed by Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, in sixth with 1 first-place vote and 129 points. By My Standards, who is also slated to start in the Whitney, is seventh with 113 points while top-ranked sophomore Tiz the Law is eighth with 2 first-place votes and 112 points. Mucho Gusto (92 points) and Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 83 points) round out the top 10.

Less than two weeks from his planned start in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga, Tiz the Law continues to hold a commanding lead in the NTRA Top Three-Year-Old Poll with 39 first-place votes and 399 total points. Honor A. P., who is set to run in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1, ranks second with 1 first-place vote and 355 points and is followed by Grade 1 Haskell Stakes victor Authentic (284 points).

Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector (254 points) and Los Alamitos Derby victor Uncle Chuck (150) sit fourth and fifth, respectively, with Haskell runner-up Ny Traffic (129) in sixth. King Guillermo, winner of the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, ranks seventh with 117 points followed by leading sophomore fillies Gamine (107 points) and Swiss Skydiver (102). Dr Post (100 points) completes the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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Baffert On Maximum Security: ‘I Only Had Him About 80 Percent”

Maximum Security was “good” Sunday morning, following an all-out effort for a nose victory at Del Mar in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 San Diego Handicap, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert reported.

“I actually thought he was pretty good right after the race being that I only had him about 80 percent,” Baffert said. “I didn't think he'd have to do a stop-and-go movement (during the race) but he showed what a great horse he is.”

Making his first start for Baffert, first in five months, and under new jockey Abel Cedillo, Maximum Security vied with Midcourt for the lead through the first quarter in :23.74, dropped back to third place, 2 ½ lengths behind Midcourt at the half-mile mark, rallied to draw even with an eighth of a mile to go and prevailed by a nose at the end of the 1 1/16-mile race.

“It's a good starting point, we learned a lot about the horse, now we're caught up and he's ready to go,” Baffert said. Rather than “go,” however, Baffert's inclination is to “stay” at Del Mar for the $500,000, Grade 1, 1 1/4-mile TVG Pacific Classic on August 22. Even though there figure to be pressures, subtle and unsubtle, to exercise other options. The Woodward Stakes at Saratoga is the same purse and distance as the Pacific Classic two weeks later on the calendar.

“The Pacific Classic or the Woodward, depending ….but I like the Pacific Classic,” Baffert said. “He brings his racetrack with him. He's got a lot of will to win, he's courageous and a smart horse. There's just something about him, he's got a lot of will to win. He's got a lot of W's by his name and there's a reason for that.”

John Shirreffs, trainer of Midcourt, said his 5-year-old gelding showed no ill effects from a fully game try for a sixth victory in 12 starts.

“We are, of course, very proud of his race,” Shirreffs said via text. “It was a flip of a coin who would hit the wire with his head down.” There are no immediate plans regarding a next race.

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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.

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‘You’ve Got To Run When You’re Ready’: Higher Power Takes On Maximum Security In San Diego

Trainer John Sadler has saddled the winner of the last three runnings of the San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. A fourth would appear to be a tough task considering the intimidating record and presence of rival Maximum Security.

But Sadler, and his major client Hronis Racing, are hardly ones to be intimidated. And there's recent history on their side.

“Maximum Security is one of the best horses in the world,” Sadler said. “But you've got to run when you're ready, and we're ready right now.”

Sadler has entered TVG Pacific Classic defending champion Higher Power for the Grade II $150,000 San Diego, a 1 1/16-mile main track event that is the primary stepping stone to the Classic. His 5 ¼-length convincing Pacific Classic victory was the highlight of a 2019 campaign as a 4-year-old in which the son of Medaglia d'Oro won three times and compiled earnings of more than $1.2 million for Hronis.

Higher Power opened 2020 with a last-place finish of 10 as the favorite in the Pegasus World Cup in January at Gulfstream Park, then went unraced until a runner-up finish, beaten 3 ¼ lengths by Improbable, in the Hollywood Gold Cup on June 6 at Santa Anita.

“We were very happy with it,” Sadler said. “It was a very good second, coming as it did off a really extended layoff because of travel and COVID. We brought him down here where he's run well before and plan to run him twice – the San Diego and the Pacific Classic.”

Sadler and Hronis also have Combatant, a 5-year-old son of Scat Daddy who is also entered in Sunday's Grade II, $200,000 Eddie Read Stakes on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course.

Combatant won the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap on March 7 in his second start for Sadler after previously being based in the Midwest with Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. A venture to Hot Springs, Ark., in May for the Oaklawn Handicap produced only an 11th place finish in a field of 13. Combatant, generally a come-from-behind type, has four wins from 25 lifetime starts and earnings of $1,033,998. One victory, and $294,740 in earnings, came from turf races.

“He got cut off and generally had a bad trip at Oaklawn, so we've given him time off,” Sadler said. “Even if I go with him on the grass instead of the San Diego he's still a candidate for the Pacific Classic.”

Catalina Cruiser secured victories in the San Diego Handicap for Sadler, carrying Hronis colors, in 2018-19. In 2017 eventual champion Accelerate did the honors. Accelerate's victory was over the Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate, then the No. 1 ranked horse in the world. Arrogate finished fourth, beaten 15 lengths. Baffert will saddle Maximum Security on Saturday.

The San Diego Handicap, planned for July 18, was rescheduled a week later due to COVID-19 and post positions were re-drawn. It made no difference for Higher Power.

“They drew the race twice and I got the rail both times,” Sadler said. “The post is not my favorite, but we'll live with it.”

The field from the rail: Higher Power (Flavien Prat); Ax Man (Mike Smith); Sharp Samurai (Jorge Velez); Combatant (Drayden Van Dyke); Maximum Security (Abel Cedillo), and Midcourt (Victor Espinoza).

Prat's agent, Derek Lawson, was asked how he felt about going up against Maximum Security with Higher Power. “The same as I felt going up against Maximum Security with Country House in the Kentucky Derby,” Prat said.

Racing fans know how that turned out.

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