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Bodenheimer Named Washington Horse of the Year

Kristin Boice and Marylou Holden's Bodenheimer (Atta Boy Roy), winner of the Indian Summer S. as a 2-year-old last season at Keeneland, was named Washington's Horse of the Year during the state's annual awards celebration held via Zoom Saturday evening. The dark bay colt was also named champion turf horse and shared co-champion 2-year-old honors with undefeated Dutton (Noosito).

Also during Saturday's ceremony, Time For Gold (Harbor the Gold) was named champion 2-year-old filly and her owners, Chad Christensen and Josh McKee, were the state's leading owners of Washington-breds. Baja Sur (Smiling Tiger) was named champion older horse or gelding and champion sprinter and Alittlelesstalk (Demon Warlock) was named champion older female. Unmachable (Macho Uno) was the state's champion 3-year-old. His trainer, Jack McCartney, was also honored with a special training achievement award.

Glen Todd-owned and -trained Miss Prospector gave her sire Harbor the Gold his 24th state champion runner when she took champion sophomore filly honors.

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Maxfield Headed to Big ‘Cap

Undefeated and widely considered among the top horses in training, Maxfield (Street Sense) will make his next start in Saturday's GI Santa Anita H.

The news was first reported by TVG's Christina Blacker.

“He'll head out there tomorrow,” trainer Brendan Walsh said. “We're looking forward to it. The race has been on our radar for a while. At 1 1/4 miles, it's a nice race for him and the timing is good. It gives us a chance to win a Grade I. The race makes sense.”

With Maxfield being owned by Godolphin, the Mar. 27 G1 Dubai World Cup seemed like a logical spot for Maxfield, but Walsh said the connections wanted to keep him closer to home.

“We kind of wanted to keep the horse in this country,” he said. “He's still a lightly enough raced horse. We wanted to keep him here, try to make progress and get a solid year's racing out of him. We want to get a good body of racing into the horse.”

Maxfield showed his talent at the outset, winning a maiden race before capturing te GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity as a 2-year-old. But he missed out on the 2019 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the 2020 Triple Crown races and the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Classic due to some minor setbacks. In December, he returned to win the Tenacious S. at the Fair Grounds and then the GIII Mineshaft S. It was the first time in his career he was able to run in back-to-back races without a long break in between.

“It's been great,” Walsh said. “We always thought that the horse was super talented. That's been there for everyone to see. We came to New Orleans this winter and I thought it was great we were able to get those couple of runs into him. No disrespect to the horses he ran against down there, but we didn't have to face the very top horses in the country. That was a super important stepping stone for him for us to go ahead and take a step like he is going to take next Saturday. This will be a good test for him and a good experience for him to have to travel out to California.”

Walsh also provided an update on another star in his stable, Prevalence (Medaglia d'Oro). After he broke his maiden by 8 1/2 lengths, he was considered a possible starter in the GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S., but had to miss the race after coming down with a temperature. He returned to the work tab Saturday, breezing a half-mile in :48.40 at Palm Meadows.

“It was a nice work and we were really happy with him,” the trainer said. “We'll probably try to find an allowance race at Gulfstream for him in the next book and go from there. We missed working him last week, so that eliminated any chance we might have had in running him in the Fountain of Youth. At the end of the day, he's only run one time, so it would have been a big ask to go against those horses. He's a lovely horse and I think he is progressing. He's going the right way.”

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Collaborate Earns Florida Derby Shot

Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Racing's Collaborate (Into Mischief), tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his impressive maiden score at Gulfstream Park Saturday, has put himself on track for the Mar. 27 GI Curlin Florida Derby, trainer Saffie Joseph confirmed Sunday.

“The Florida Derby is at home and he just has to walk out of his stall,” Joseph said. “I talked to the owners briefly yesterday and it will probably be between the Florida Derby, the [GII] Wood [at Aqueduct Apr. 3] or the [GII Toyota] Blue Grass [at Keeneland Apr. 3], but the Florida Derby will be the front-runner. Off [Saturday's] race, we're probably going to take a chance somewhere. We feel like he's a Derby horse. I know we're a little behind schedule, but with the ability he has, he can probably overcome it.”

Collaborate was sixth as the beaten favorite in his troubled six-furlong debut in Hallandale Feb. 6. Going one mile Saturday, the colt broke sharply and set a measured pace under jockey Tyler Gaffalione, going in splits of :23.72 seconds, :46.57 and 1:11.12 before beginning to edge away from his 10 rivals. He hit the stretch six lengths in front and kept rolling to win by 12 1/2 and completing the mile in 1:36.35 over a fast main track (video).

“We weren't surprised. That's hard to say with a horse winning like that, but that's the horse we thought he was,” Joseph said. “The first time out, we got him beat. It hurt to get him beat first time out, because we thought he was that good, but you always have to look at the positive in each scenario and the first time I thought he gained valuable experience.”

While Collaborate has joined the Triple Crown trail, stablemate Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music) will cut back in distance following his runner-up effort in Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S.

“Talking to the owners briefly after the race, initially I think we're going to step back and keep him at one turn. We tried it and I think he handled the mile and a sixteenth, but I don't think we're going to try to push it,” Joseph said. “I think we have a really good horse. I feel like we have a Grade I horse and he's probably going to be best at one turn, so most likely we're going to stick to one turn.”

Trainer Butch Reid reported last year's champion juvenile filly Vequist (Nyquist) was doing well following her ninth-place effort in Saturday's GII Davona Dale S.

“We did scope her after the race and she was a little dirty,” Reid said. “She had some mucus in there and stuff that we can work with, and I think it definitely affected her performance a little bit. But, soundness-wise, she's great and is happy.”

Vequist got bumped at the start of the Davona Dale and was in range of the leaders racing in mid-pack, but never threatened and was eased to the finish by jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.

“I'm glad Irad took care of her the last part of it when she was hopelessly beaten, so she came back great,” Reid said. “Irad did a great job. He saw that she wasn't really getting there. He gave her a little eighth of a mile to run, but I know she's better than that. We're going to keep looking at her and keep working her and fall back and regroup a little bit, that's all.”

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Tributes to Gary Lavin

Tributes continue to pour in following the death of noted veterinarian Gary Lavin, who passed away Saturday at the age of 83. Lavin is a past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, Steward of The Jockey Club, trustee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and the Breeders' Cup, director at Keeneland, and vice-chairman of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.

BILL LANDES, General Manager Hermitage Farm and a successor KTA President to Lavin

“Oh, Gosh!” Not only was that Doc's favorite expression, but my response when asked for memories of him.

When I began at Hermitage on Nov. 1, 1977, the first person Warner Jones insisted I meet was Doc. Thank goodness for that advice for that led to a lifetime of Doc's counsel, information and friendship.

So many afternoons from 1977 to 1992, Doc returned from his Churchill vet practice to spend time in Mr. Jones's Hermitage office. He always brought with him a Racing Form for Jones, gossip and news from the Churchill Downs' backside, and usually some advice as to what changes were needed at Churchill. Sometimes Mr. Jones would heed that advice.

I know Doc identified Shug McGaughey as a young trainer to watch. Jones did heed that advice and he eventually forged a long professional and personal relationship with Shug.

A memorable day was the afternoon when Doc proudly told Mr. Jones he had bought neighboring Lasater Farm and was renaming it Longfield. I'll never forget Mr. Jones's response “Doc, now that we're neighbors, remember, 'Neither a borrower (Jones pronounced it borryer) nor lender be!'”

Life lessons I gleaned from Doc were: Despite a perceived 502/606 (Louisville/Lexington) rivalry, cultivate close relationships with Lexington competitors and friends. It served him well and has done the same for me. He also created mutually respectful friendships with both the small and the mighty. He got on with everyone.

A better example of a husband, father, grandfather, and friend can not be identified. I'll miss him.

PATRICK COOPER of BBA Ireland

'One horse wins and the rest should've.' Dr. A Gary Lavin's withering assessment of turf racing in the 1990s. Slow forward to 2017–Dockie didn't do fast–and I get a call from Kevin. Doc wants to buy a share in this new syndicate you have set up. 'Kevin, there is no dirt racing here in Ireland.' So began three years of reconnecting to a true gentleman.

A born raconteur, his stories didn't really need a beginning or end, just an audience. Time spent with the Doc was just one of life's great pleasures. We had what proved a final lunch in the sunshine on the banks of the Ohio last November. Three hours with Gary and Family Lavin talking horses and nonsense. To Betsy, Allan and Kevin, keep the table. We might not be able to talk to him any more, but we sure as hell can talk about him.

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