Maxfield Faces Defining Test in Whitney

It was nearly two years ago that Godolphin's Maxfield  first created a buzz.

When he won the 2019 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) around two turns by 5 1/2 widening lengths, he became the favorite in many eyes for the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1). Beyond that, with a regal pedigree by Street Sense   out of a Bernardini mare, he seemed to have the ideal make-up for a top Triple Crown prospect.

His future seemed as bright as the sun rising on a morning without a cloud in the sky.

Yet for all of the talk and expectations back then, and even though he has won five of six starts since then to rank among the top horses in training, 4-year-old Maxfield has yet to shine on a grade 1 stage since that October afternoon of his 2-year-old season.

Injuries and setbacks popped up at the most inopportune times, preventing him from running in the Breeders' Cup at 2 and the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup at 3 and denying him a chance to justify the early hype.

"We were a little unfortunate when he was a younger horse," trainer Brendan Walsh said.

Those fortunes have surely changed this year and have finally put Maxfield in a position where he can make up for the many months of lost time in one fell swoop.

Come Aug. 7, the homebred Street Sense colt will try to notch that elusive second grade 1 win against a strong field in one of the sport's most famous races, the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

"This will be his biggest race," Walsh said. 

Indeed it will. Though Maxfield figures to be one of the favorites in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile stakes, in which he's the 8-5 morning-line second choice who will break from the outside in a small field of five, those odds are based on a pair of grade 2 wins and a grade 3 triumph in 2021 and not a victory in a race with a stature similar to the Whitney. 

In his lone grade 1 test of the year, and first since the Breeders' Futurity, he was third in the March 6 Santa Anita Handicap (G1).

Nevertheless, with a career record of seven wins in eight starts, he's ranked second in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Thoroughbred poll and first in rankings leading up to the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).

All of the patience required to nurse him through each setback and take carefully plotted steps forward will be put to an acid test Saturday. After four grade 2 or 3 wins in his career and that one grade 1 score at 2, he will face a classy field that also includes Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Knicks Go , Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner Silver State , the grade 1-placed By My Standards , and the 2020 Preakness Stakes (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1) winner, the filly Swiss Skydiver . Yet time finally appears to be on Maxfield's side. Thanks to steady racing and training since November, he will face his defining moment when he has a strong foundation underneath him.

"The timing is good because he's finally ready for a test like this. It will be a good test. He has to show up against horses like this and show how good he might be," Walsh said. "Now he seems ready to put it all together. Hopefully he gets a clear run from here on, so he can live up to all the talent that we know he has."

Maxfield was undefeated until March when he traveled to California and finished third by two lengths in the 1 1/4-mile Santa Anita Handicap when running on three weeks rest. Since then, he has taken some impressive steps forward, winning the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet (G2) by 3 1/4 lengths and then the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) by the same margin. He has also been given more spacing between starts.

"Maxfield has always been impressive-looking physically but he's even better now. It feels like he's taken a big step forward mentally and is more professional in his races," said Jimmy Bell, president of Godolphin USA. "He's really in tune with what's going on and taking care of business. He has a different attitude and outlook and all of that has made a difference in his races. He learned from that race in California. He had things his own way before that and hadn't been in many dogfights before, but the Santa Anita Handicap moved him forward, which is what you expect from a tight race. It wasn't a bad race for racing at 1 1/4 miles for the first time. He just got beat."

What Walsh has seen lately in those decisive wins has filled him with confidence that the son of the Bernardini   mare Velvety  is on a highly beneficial upswing heading into Saturday's race.

"He's doing great. He couldn't be doing better," Walsh said. "I think he came back better from the California race and it showed in his last two races. I think he can continue to get better. I don't believe we've seen his best by any means. He's a lightly raced horse and we've always been battling against inexperience and a lack of seasoning."

Getting Maxfield to this stage in his career was a difficult chore for Walsh. The talented colt missed the 2019 Juvenile due to surgery for an ankle chip and did not return to the races until May, when he won the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds. There was some thought he could be a factor in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), which was the opening leg of last year's shuffled Triple Crown due to the pandemic, or the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2), but a condylar fracture sidelined him until December.

"It was tough to miss those races, but he was always going to be a better horse once he filled out his frame and none of the injuries were something that we couldn't fix," the 48-year-old trainer said. "It was frustrating but everybody was good about it. The Godolphin team was fantastic, as they always are, and we were allowed to proceed as we needed to."

Considering all of those issues and how Maxfield is one of two of Walsh's grade/group 1 winners in a career that started in 2011 and includes 389 victories, pressure would figure to be Walsh's shadow. Yet the Irish-born trainer views the situation with rose-colored glasses.

"It's not pressure. It's a pleasure to have a horse of this caliber. I count myself as lucky. He's such a classy horse. There's not a ton of pressure because he handles everything so well," he said. "For me, it's a great position to be in. I know a lot of people would like to be in my position."

The winner of the Whitney will get a free spot in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic through the "Win and You're In" challenge series, and some of the trainers in the race are no doubt plotting how to bridge the three-month gap until the Nov. 6 race at Del Mar. But not Walsh. He's focused solely on Saturday—for a good reason.

"We'll worry about what's next after Saturday," Walsh said. "This horse has taught me not to look too far ahead."