2020 Eclipse Awards: Maximum Security

No horse of this era has had a soap-opera tale comparing to Maximum Security. Risked in his debut for $16,000, he subsequently finished first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, only to be disqualified for interference – the first time a Derby winner had been disqualified for an ontrack incident – yet by year’s end, with three Grade 1 wins, he had compiled a record that made him the champion 3-year-old male.

This past year had even more drama. Maximum Security finished first in the inaugural Group 1 Saudi Cup, a result that is still in abeyance with Saudi officials, owing to the subsequent arrest less than two weeks later of original trainer Jason Servis, charged by U.S. federal officials with conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding. After being moved to Bob Baffert’s barn, Maximum Security subsequently won two more graded stakes, including the biggest race of the summer at Del Mar, to again place himself as a finalist for a year-end championship, this time as older male.

Owing to the cloud that hovered over much of Maximum Security’s career, his fortitude might not be fully appreciated. He was a dogged competitor, rallying to win the Saudi Cup, and staving off challengers in the Grade 2 San Diego in 2020, all after dealing with a bout of colic in 2019.

“He has so much heart. He’s got a lot of W’s by his name,” Baffert said after the San Diego.

:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories

Maximum Security’s biggest win in the United States in 2020 came in the Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic, which he led from start to finish, giving him his first official victory at 1 1/4 miles after the Derby DQ.

“It’s not his fault what he’s gone through. The Derby, the bad press,” Baffert said after the Pacific Classic. “I felt a lot of pressure. I didn’t want to be the guy who slowed him down.”

Owing to restrictions placed on jockeys in the summer because of the coronavirus pandemic, Abel Cedillo rode Maximum Security in his two races at Del Mar. By the fall though, Maximum Security was reunited with Luis Saez, who had ridden him to his Grade 1 wins in 2019 and in the Saudi Cup.

After the Pacific Classic, Maximum Security finished second to Improbable – another Baffert trainee and also a finalist in this category – in the Grade 1 Awesome Again, and then he was a distant fifth in what turned out to be his final career start, in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, in which Baffert trainees Authentic and Improbable finished one-two.

Maximum Security, by New Year’s Day out of the Anasheed mare Lil Indy, was bred by Gary and Mary West, who campaigned him until bringing aboard the Coolmore team of Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith at the beginning of 2020.

After the Breeders’ Cup, Maximum Security was retired to Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., where he is about to commence his first season as a stallion.