Maximum Security's Unique Derby Path Serves Him Well

A debut win in a maiden-claiming race followed by two starter condition victories impresses for the level, but it doesn't typically point to a Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) starter. But not only does Derby hopeful Maximum Security feature that past-performance line, trainer Jason Servis believes it benefits his star 3-year-old.

Following those three starts, Maximum Security delivered a front-end victory in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park to earn a spot in this year's Derby. Now Maximum Security will look to become the first 3-year-old since 2009 Derby winner Mine That Bird to win the classic after scoring an initial victory in a maiden-claiming race. 

Servis noted that by earning a debut victory in a $16,000 maiden-claiming race Dec. 20 at Gulfstream, he had the option to allow the son of 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner New Year's Day time to develop in the typically easier competition found in starter races, which are restricted to horses who have started for a claiming price. Maximum Security, like New Year's Day, is campaigned by Gary and Mary West.

The risk was having a 2-year-old—who as it turned out would be just months away from a grade 1 score—that could have been purchased through a $16,000 claim by another horseman that December day.  

"I would have been upset," Servis acknowledged May 2 in the barn of his Derby-winning brother, John Servis, on the Churchill Downs backstretch where Maximum Security resides this week. "I didn't think I'd lose him."

Servis, a veteran trainer who enjoyed an upgrade in equine talent in recent years to stakes-level horses, said his opinion that the horse would not be claimed was based on his longtime familiarity with the claiming game. Putting himself in the shoes of those other trainers, he figured they would view his starting the Wests' homebred Maximum Security for a tag as a sign the horse hadn't shown much potential. 

Beyond that, Servis took the added step of using apprentice rider Romero Ramsay Maragh so as not to tip anyone off about the horse's talent. And, Servis noted, the race level fit the young horse's breeding, as he is by a sire just weeks away from being sold to stand in Brazil and is out of Lil Indy, by Anasheed. About a month before Maximum Security's debut, the Wests sold Lil Indy, in foal to New Year's Day, for $11,000 to buyer Triple Crown at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale through consignor Paramount Sales. 

Knowing all that, Servis was comfortable starting Maximum Security that day, thinking the colt would earn a debut win and not be claimed. He proved prescient, except for one issue—the ease of victory. Maximum Security won by 9 3/4 lengths.

"I thought he'd win that day," Servis said. "I didn't think he'd win by 10, but I thought he was well-spotted."

Trainer Armando De La Cerda, for one, could have kicked himself as he watched Maximum Security romp that day—not only because his horse, Guerreron, finished second, but because De La Cerda had stopped short of putting in a claim on the winner. As Maximum Security reached the finish line, De La Cerda experienced the same feeling of every horseman who stopped one bid short at a sale or every bettor who talks himself off a winner while in line to bet.

"I keep thinking about what happened because when I woke up that day, I was 100% sure I was going to claim the horse," said De La Cerda, who talked himself off the horse after getting a look at him before the race but still before the deadline to drop a claim. "Seeing him, he didn't look like a 'big' horse, he just looked like a regular horse."

Servis knows that feeling. When Maximum Security arrived at his Monmouth Park barn last summer, the trainer didn't see much in terms of potential. "Everything was beating up on him," Servis said.

But Servis eventually saw reason for optimism when the stable moved to its winter home at Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida. Looking back on Maximum Security's development, Servis now attributes the slow start at Monmouth to the colt being a late foal—May 14.

"When I got to Florida, he had a couple of good breezes. I was kind of surprised, but I started marking the books," Servis said. "At the start of the meet, we got rolling and I thought he'd be right there for $16,000."

With his frontrunning debut victory under his belt, Servis still didn't want to rush Maximum Security and entered him in a Jan. 24 starter allowance (optional claiming) race at Gulfstream. Maximum Security raced in third early under Maragh in that six-furlong test before rolling to a 6 1/2-length score. Servis liked what he was seeing.

"(After the maiden), I got on the bug boy for letting him win by 10, so he was well in-hand when he won by (6 1/2)," Servis said.

Still hoping for one more start in starter conditions, Servis made his case to the racing office to card a race. In the process, Servis said he threw in the promise of running the horse back in the Florida Derby should he register a third impressive win—ensuring Gulfstream another starter for its biggest race. 

The race would go—and Maximum Security earned his way into the Florida Derby with an 18 1/4-length score in that seven-furlong event. Servis said the starter races, through their timing and competition level, allowed his horse to progress without taxing him too much. 

"He's fresh. He's not been a horse that's been behind or finished eighth, or fifth, or third," Servis said. "I've been careful with the spacing."

More than four months after the Dec. 20 maiden claiming race, De La Cerda is still second-guessing himself despite having little information on which to base his decision when Maximum Security made his career debut.

Guerreron, who entered off a runner-up finish at the same maiden claiming level that month at Gulfstream, was the favorite that day. De La Cerda figured first-time starter Maximum Security to be his main threat. While thinking about putting in a claim, his initial thought was that if he won the race with Guerreron, he'd have a nice win; and if his 6-5 favorite lost to Maximum Security, he'd be bringing a new winner into the barn.

As it turned out, the race was especially tough for the maiden-claiming level as it not only featured the eventual Florida Derby winner but the race's third-place finisher, Math Wizard, went on to finish fourth in the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2).

De La Cerda continues to admire Maximum Security.

"He does everything so easy. He beat us by nine or 10 that day, and then he hasn't really been challenged in any of his races," De La Cerda said. "The Florida Derby was a little closer, but he really ran the same race he's been running each time. It was about as easy as you see a horse win that kind of race."