Maxfield Makes Long-Awaited Return in Matt Winn

Time has clearly been on Maxfield's side.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closing of racetracks around the country, trainer Brendan Walsh was looking at the challenging probability of getting Godolphin's grade 1-winning homebred son of Street Sense  ready for the grueling 1 1/4 miles of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) off a single race in the previous seven months.

So when the Kentucky Derby was switched to Sept. 5 and the Keeneland spring meet was canceled, Walsh hit the brakes on the grade 1 winner's comeback from ankle surgery.

"We were going to try to make the Kentucky Derby if it was in May," Walsh said. "It was going to be a little tight, and we probably would have been down to trying to do it with one prep under our belt. But as soon as things shut down, we moved him up to Kentucky and felt our way around for a couple of weeks. We gave him more time because we weren't sure when racing would resume. As things progressed, I had a middle-of-May date in my mind when he would be ready."

As it turned out, with the help of a beneficial stakes schedule at Churchill Downs, Walsh has found what he calls "the ideal spot" for Maxfield in the $150,000 Matt Winn Stakes (G3), a 1 1/16-mile test May 23 for 3-year-olds at the home of the Twin Spires in Louisville.

"It didn't work to our disadvantage. Every bit of time was going to benefit him," Walsh said about the pandemic-related closing that chopped three weeks off the Churchill Downs meet. "Hopefully, he goes out Saturday, gives a good account of himself and runs well, and proves we've got a horse going forward at a time when there's plenty of nice spots opening up for him as we go along from here."

Aside from the right timing for Maxfield, the Memorial Day weekend stakes will also provide him—and Saturday's other 11 starters, including the grade 2-placed Ny Traffic and Major Fed—with a chance to pick up some points toward a start on Labor Day weekend at Churchill Downs in the Run for the Roses. The winner of the Matt Winn will receive 50 qualifying points, with the next three finishers getting 20-10-5 points.

Yet in a twist unique to 2020, the classic on the horizon for the Matt Winn starters is the $1 million Belmont Stakes (G1) June 20 at Belmont Park. Given how Walsh was open to running Maxfield in a 10-furlong Triple Crown race off one start in 210 days, tackling a nine-furlong Triple Crown race off one start in 259 days seems a reasonable possibility, but the native of County Cork, Ireland, is taking the comeback one step at a time.

"We'll see how Saturday goes. I'm not even thinking about that yet," Walsh said about the Belmont.

Heading into the Matt Winn, Walsh is delighted with the way the son of the Bernardini  mare Velvety has been training and putting behind him the November ankle surgery that forced him to miss the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Maxfield was expected to be one of the top threats in the Juvenile based on a 2-for-2 record highlighted by a dominant 5 1/2-length score over Gouverneur Morris in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) that earned him 10 Kentucky Derby points.

"We're really happy. We've had plenty of time to prepare him for this. This race came up at the right time, and he's about as ready as we can get him coming off the bench. He's training good, and we're looking forward to seeing what he does Saturday," Walsh said about a late-running colt who rallied from ninth in the Breeders' Futurity. "He's done really well physically. We always looked forward to seeing him at 3 because we thought 3 and 4 would be his best years. He's filled out into his frame over the winter, and he's turned into a really, really good-looking horse, and I hope he does as well on the racetrack as he's done physically."

Maxfield, who will be ridden by Jose Ortiz, will break from post 10.

Ny Traffic, owned by John Fanelli, Cash is King, LC Racing, and Paul Braverman, also found a highly suitable spot in the Matt Winn. Third in the Risen Star Stakes Presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) after setting the pace and second throughout in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), the fleet son of Cross Traffic  is one of the few entrants with keen early speed.

"Sometimes you wind up getting early speed from a horse you don't expect, but on paper it looks like the only other ones with speed are the ones inside of us (Celtic Striker and Flap Jack)," said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., whose colt will break from post 6 with jockey Paco Lopez.

Joseph likes the way his 3-year-old is working toward his first start in two months.

"He's doing well," said Joseph, who plans to ship a string of 16-20 horses to Kentucky next month. "After the Louisiana Derby, we gave him a break. We got four works into him, and it's time to get him started. We don't want him to peak Saturday, but he should give a good account of himself."

Ny Traffic already has 50 Kentucky Derby points and is 12th in the chase for one of 20 starting spots. If he can pick up some more points Saturday, it would allow Joseph to look at upcoming races without concern about how many points are on the line. Depending on what happens in the Matt Winn, Joseph was not keen on the Belmont Stakes, showing more interest in either the TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park July 18 or the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2), if there's a Keeneland meet in July.

"The option was either the Matt Winn or the Belmont Stakes, and the timing for this one seems better for him," Joseph said.

Lloyd Madison Farms IV's Major Fed landed the unfavorable outside post in the field of 12 as he attempts to rebound from a nightmare trip in the Louisiana Derby. Following a five-wide runner-up finish in the Risen Star, the son of Ghostzapper  broke slowly in the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby and trailed in 14th before he was forced to rally six to eight paths wide on the final turn while finishing fourth, 4 3/4 lengths behind.

Given the touch of bad luck at the draw and the prospect of another wide journey, trainer Greg Foley is hopeful that Joel Rosario can find a way to save ground.

"Hopefully, we will finally get lucky with a good trip," said Foley, whose colt ranks 18th on the Derby leaderboard with 30 points. "He ran two really hard races in the Risen Star and the Louisiana Derby. We just got a little bit unlucky with our trips."

The field also includes Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's Attachment Rate, a son of Hard Spun  who was a game second to the promising Dr. Post in the April 25 Unbridled Stakes at Gulfstream Park; Pneumatic, Winchell Thoroughbreds' undefeated Uncle Mo  3-year-old who is being sent out for his stakes debut by trainer Steve Asmussen.

Trainer Mike Stidham said Mystic Guide would scratch in favor of an allowance race, according to Churchill Downs publicity.

The Matt Winn, one of five stakes on an 11-race card, will be the 10th race of the day with post time slated for 5:44 p.m. ET.

Entries: Matt Winn S. (G3)

Churchill Downs, Saturday, May 23, 2020, Race 10

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $150,000
• 3 yo
• 5:44 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Mystic Guide (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Michael Stidham	15/1
2	2Pneumatic (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	118	Steven M. Asmussen	4/1
3	3Informative (KY)	John Bisono	118	Uriah St. Lewis	20/1
4	4Celtic Striker (KY)	Manuel Franco	118	Raymond Handal	20/1
5	5Flap Jack (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	118	Jack Sisterson	20/1
6	6Ny Traffic (NY)	Paco Lopez	118	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	10/1
7	7Necker Island (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	118	Stanley M. Hough	15/1
8	8Crypto Cash (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Kenneth G. McPeek	20/1
9	9Shake Some Action (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Brad H. Cox	12/1
10	10Maxfield (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	123	Brendan P. Walsh	5/2
11	11Attachment Rate (VA)	John R. Velazquez	118	Dale L. Romans	4/1
12	12Major Fed (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	Gregory D. Foley	5/1