Maxfield

Trainer Brendan Walsh joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to talk about his Triple Crown hopeful Maxfield after last weekend's win in the Matt Winn S., as well as Godolphin's pursuit of the elusive Kentucky Derby.

A syndicate of breeders headed by Argentina's Haras La Layenda has purchased Godolphin's graded stakes winner Lucullan (Hard Spun--Golden Velvet, by Seeking the Gold) for the 2020 Southern Hemisphere breeding season. A six-time winner with earnings of $510,925, Lucullan captured the GII Knickerbocker S. last fall at Belmont. He is out of a MGSW/GISP dam who is a half-sister to GISW and sire Sky Mesa (Pulpit) as well as the dam of top GI Kentucky Derby contender Maxfield (Street Sense).

To paraphrase the Rolling Stones, you can't always get what you want. But sometimes, you get what you need. That might end up being the case regarding the retooled GI Belmont S. announced last week by the New York Racing Association (NYRA). For its 2020 running, COVID-19 has transformed the $1.5-million, 12-furlong "Test of Champions" concluding leg of the Triple Crown into a one-turn, nine-furlong prep for the other two Classics with two-thirds its original purse. The revised Belmont S. will be run June 20 in a spectator-free Belmont Park...

Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense) exited his victory in Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. in fine shape, according to trainer Brendan Walsh. Plans for the handsome colt's next start are still undecided. "I have just been thinking all along to go one race at a time with this colt," Walsh said. "We'll talk it over with the Godolphin team and plan for our next target, whatever that may be." Maxfield's win in the Matt Winn took his lifetime record to a perfect three-for-three and earned him 50 points on the Road...

Making his first start since winning the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity in handsome fashion nearly eight months ago and his first since undergoing surgery to have ankle chips removed, Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense) finished with a flourish down the center of the Churchill Downs main track to take Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. over a game Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic). 'TDN Rising Star' Pneumatic (Uncle Mo) was a creditable third after arguing the pace in his graded stakes debut. The victory, worth 50 points, on the road to September's GI...

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Arkansas Derby Results - Charlatan (+$270) scored at short odds, but Silver Prospector was seventh in the second division. Bankroll: $2545. GIII Matt Winn S. - Hoping the 10-1 price holds on Ny Traffic, who feels...

They're still trying to figure out what to do about the U.S. Open. In March, much like Aqueduct, Flushing Meadow found itself requisitioned as a temporary hospital. As that facility is dismantled and disinfected, however, the USTA must decide whether to stick to their original schedule, behind closed doors; or postpone the tournament, and perhaps move it somewhere like Indian Wells. American tennis is fortunate, at least, that its premier annual engagement with a mass audience is entrusted to a body guided only by the long-term interests of the overall...

A few weeks ago, the GIII Matt Winn S. was added as a points race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, reconstituted when Churchill Downs relocated the 2020 'Run for the Roses' to Sept. 5. The race took on added importance earlier this week, when officials at Belmont Park announced that its marquee race, the GI Belmont S., would be the first of this year's Triple Crown races and take place June 20. Saturday's first graded stakes of the season beneath the Twin Spires therefore takes on added importance...

Maxfield's stall sits across from Barn 42's office, where trainer Brendan Walsh can keep a close eye on his star pupil at his Keeneland base. It's been a whirlwind of an early career for the Godolphin-owned colt, but he is now primed to make his sophomore debut this Saturday in the $150,000 GIII Matt Winn S. The son of Street Sense launched his juvenile season last year by breaking his maiden on debut before going on to take the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity by over five lengths. But then three...

Major Fed (Ghostzapper), second in the GII Risen Star S. and fourth after a slow start in the GII Louisiana Derby, completed his last major workout on Saturday morning at Churchill Downs with a half-mile move in :51.40 (16/16) prior to taking aim at next Saturday's GIII Matt Winn S. Meanwhile, 72 miles east of Churchill Downs, unbeaten GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity winner Maxfield (Street Sense) worked a swift half-mile in :47.20 (3/22) at Keeneland. The Matt Winn is worth 50-20-10-5 points to the top four finishers on the Road...

An undefeated Grade I winner heading into last fall's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense) appeared well on his way to claiming the 1 1/16-mile championship race and a juvenile title to boot. However, fate intervened. Scratched in the days leading up to the event because of an ankle chip, Maxfield underwent surgery to remove the chip and was subsequently given some down time in Ocala before joining Brendan Walsh's Florida-based string at Palm Meadows earlier this winter. "Since we gave him the break, he's...

Ete Indien (Summer Front), who produced a breakout performance when dominating Saturday's GII Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth S. by 8 1/2 lengths at Gulfstream, came out of his effort well Sunday morning, according to trainer Patrick Biancone. "Very good," Biancone told the Gulfstream notes team of how his colt looked. "He ate all his dinner and he's happy and sound this morning, which is what you want to see. We're good." Starting his career on turf, Ete Indien switched to the dirt for an upset allowance victory Dec. 20 in...