The Long Game for Maxfield (Cont
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MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2020 DONNA VELOCE ROMPS IN SANTA YSABEL THE LONG GAME Super talented >TDN Rising Star= Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) FOR MAXFIELD kicked off her potential trip to the GI Kentucky Oaks with a truly dominant romp in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. at Santa Anita Sunday. The 1-5 favorite, freshened since a runner-up effort in the GI Starlet S. last December, was away awkwardly and forced to bide her time toward the back of the field early. She eventually settled into a more comfortable rhythm while saving ground and creeping up down the backside, and appeared absolutely loaded while traveling in third heading for home. Mounting a three-wide bid into the stretch, she widened at will to streak home 4 1/4 lengths clear of Speech (Mr Speaker) and completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:45.43. Storie Blue (Empire Maker) rallied from far back for third. AShe was ready, but she stumbled there at the break and that by Christina Bossinakis got us in behind those horses, so she was a little bit keen,@ said An undefeated Grade I winner heading into last fall=s winning rider Flavien Prat. AWhen we turned down the backside, GI Breeders= Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita, Godolphin=s Maxfield she dropped the bit and relaxed very well.@ Cont. p9 (Street Sense) appeared well on his way to claiming the 1 1/16-mile championship race and a juvenile title to boot. IN TDN EUROPE TODAY However, fate intervened. Scratched in the days leading up to the event because of an ankle chip, Maxfield underwent surgery FRANK ANOTHER STAR FOR HASCOMBE & VALIANT to remove the chip and was subsequently given some down Hascombe and Valiant Studs’ James Frank was crowned the GSSSA Employee of the Year. The TDN’s Emma Berry and Alayna Cullen find time in Ocala before joining Brendan Walsh=s Florida-based out more. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. string at Palm Meadows earlier this winter. ASince we gave him the break, he's put on good weight,@ said Walsh. ALast year, he was a big frame of a horse. He put on the weight and the muscle that we thought he might, and really filled out. He's the horse that we anticipated he'd turn into last year.@ Despite being sent off at 10-1 in his career debut, few could have been overly surprised when the dark bay came from off the pace to earn a three-quarter-length victory at Churchill Downs Sept. 14 (video). However, the son of Velvety (Bernardini) undoubtably raised more than a few eyebrows with his tour-de-force 5 1/2-length victory in the GI Claiborne Breeders= Futurity at Keeneland Oct. 5 (video). AWe thought he was very good, but if you had asked me before he ever ran, what did I expect from him as a 2-year-old, I'd have said maybe break his maiden after two maybe three runs? I wouldn't have said to you, >He's going to break his maiden first out and then he's going to come back three weeks later and win a Grade I.= He exceeded what we really expected of him.@ Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Managing Editor Monday, March 9, 2020 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Assistant/Dir. Of Distribution Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew [email protected] Sophomore filly Lexi on the Move (Fast Anna) stretched her record to two-for-two with a facile optional claiming tally at Oaklawn Park Sunday. See the North American Social Media Strategist Racing section for the rest of the day's results. | Coady Photo Justina Severni Director of Customer Service Vicki Forbes THE WEEK IN REVIEW 5 [email protected] During his baseball career, Victor Martinez was known for Marketing Manager being cool under pressure and good in the clutch. It appears Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen that he has a horse with the same attributes as King Guillermo (Uncle Mo) earns a spot in the GI Kentucky Derby. Director of IT/Accounting Ray Villa [email protected] [email protected] OP/ED: OH THE PLACES WE COULD GO 12 Pat Cummings, Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Ideas Foundation, reports back from the 14th annual MIT Sloan WORLDWIDE INFORMATION Sports Analytics Conference . International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | 732-747-8955 (fax) www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 16 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • MARCH 9, 2020 The Long Game for Maxfield (cont. from p1) California, he wasn't quite right. Nothing horrible. The first couple of days he seemed like he was okay. Then one day, I Walsh wasn=t surprised with the colt=s performance while didn't think he was moving quite as well as what he might have jumping into Grade I company off a maiden score. been. He's a very athletic horse and he just wasn't doing quite AHe came back [from his debut win] and he worked really well. Then the last day we trained him there, we weren't happy well,@ he said. AHe just seemed with him either so we brought like he did jump up into where him back to the barn.@ he looked like he was going to He continued, AWe thought be a real good horse. His work first of all, it might have been a before the Futurity was very foot issue. We brought him back good. Just the way he did the to Kentucky and when we week leading up to it made me looked into it [at Rood & Riddle think that he was capable of Equine Hospital], it turned out producing anything. Nothing he had a non-displaced chip in was really going to surprise me. his ankle. It was irritating him, On the day, he seemed like he and obviously we had to take it was doing great. He went out out. It didn't take too much of a and he produced a great decision because like I said performance.@ earlier, the horse was always Forging ahead to the Breeders= gone to be a 3-year-old for us. If Cup, Walsh believed his colt was Maxfield winning the GI Breeders= Futurity | Coady things weren't 100% right, it was on course for another top effort. a no-brainer to scratch him [from the Breeders= Cup], really.@ AHe came out of [the Breeders Futurity] great,@ the Irishman Following the successful surgery, Walsh has been pleased with recalled. AHe came out of it golden and worked really, really well the colt=s progress since his return to his shedrow. just before we went to California. Well, when we went to TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 16 • THETDN.COM MONDAY • MARCH 9, 2020 AHe's back to his old self again,@ affirmed Walsh. AHe's doing off of a layoff to [try and] take in any of the Derby trials against great. He's moving great. He looks fantastic. He loves to train, horses that have had two, three runs this year. To take them on he=s always loved to train. We're seeing everything you'd want off the bench would be a huge ask for any horse. It's all very to see from him since he got back. I couldn't be happier. I've well, but the last thing we want to do is do anything wrong by seen nothing negative from the horse whatsoever.@ the horse just to make the Derby. If he tells us that he can do it The grandson of MGSW Caress (Storm Cat)--who is also the and he can make it, then well and good. If he can't, then as dam of GI Hopeful S. winner Sky Mesa (Pulpit) and MGSW & much as we'd love to go to the Derby, then we're not going to.@ GISP Golden Velvet (Seeking the Gold)--recorded his first breeze And while the Derby remains an attractive proposition with a since last October going three furlongs in :38.20 at Palm 3-year-old of Maxfield=s quality, Walsh indicated there are many Meadows Feb. 17 (video) followed by a four-panel move in more days and many more top quality races to help fill the colt=s :51.20 Feb. 24. He posted a bullet four-furlong work in :48.45 2020 campaign. Mar. 1 and went five furlongs in 1:02.25 (4/11) Sunday. ANothing surprises me with him,@ he said. AHe's a special horse ASince he came back to us, we'd done a bunch of galloping,@ and, like I said, he seems to exceed what you expect of him all Walsh explained. AWe picked up the end of his gallops, three the time. We'll just keep an eye on him and we'll keep an eye on eighths, halves, five eighths the last couple of weeks just to build what's going on with everybody else as well, and try to come up them into the [Feb.