Maxfield

After giving some thought to passing the race, trainer Bob Baffert said he is leaning toward starting Charlatan (Speightstown) in the GI Belmont S. June 20. Baffert had been considering running Charlatan the GI seven-furlong Woody Stephens S., also June 20, and Nadal (Blame) in the Belmont. But Nadal was injured last week and retired. "I was thinking about running Charlatan in the Woody Stephens and then the Haskell because I had Nadal for the Belmont. Now that has changed," he said. Charlatan is scheduled to breeze Monday morning. Baffert...

So that's why they had to split the GI Arkansas Derby. One division apiece for Kipling's "twin imposters,"--Triumph and Disaster. Though we've all felt otherwise, from time to time, Lady Luck is as proportionate as she is indiscriminate in her dealings with Thoroughbreds. If Bob Baffert is better placed to absorb the loss of a servant as talented as Nadal (Blame), only a barn of such depth could have achieved the level of Triumph, in the first place, to have meanwhile registered a commensurate sequel of Disaster. It's not the...

Patience is a virtue in racing, and trainer Brendan Walsh showed it in spades over the winter with his first Grade I winner, Godolphin's Maxfield (Street Sense). A blowout victor of the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity last fall, the homebred was slated to be one of the favorites in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, but had to be scratched with an ankle injury and was slowly brought along by Walsh to a triumphant sophomore debut in the GIII Matt Winn S. Saturday, almost eight months after his last start. The...

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...