Maxfield gets tuned up for rematch with Knicks Go in Woodward
ELMONT, N.Y. – Maxfield finished a well-beaten second to Knicks Go in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga eight weeks ago. It was a defeat for which Brendan Walsh, trainer of Maxfield, does not feel he needs an excuse.
“He’s a Breeders’ Cup champion, he’s a Pegasus World Cup champion,” Walsh said of Knicks Go. “On his day, he’s as good as any horse, he’ll give any horse a run for their money from whatever year. The Whitney played into his hands, hats off to him. He beat a very, very good horse in my horse and he beat him fair and square. Hopefully, under different circumstances in the Classic, it might work our way a little more.”
Walsh is referring to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be run Nov. 6 at Del Mar.
While Knicks Go preps for the Breeders’ Cup in Saturday’s Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs, Maxfield will be at Belmont Park to run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward, a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race that drew a field of six.
The configuration and timing of the Woodward made the race attractive to Walsh and to Maxfield’s owners, Godolphin Racing.
“I like the one-turn race for him going out to Del Mar,” said Walsh. “It’s like a long, long sprint, and could put a little more speed into a horse, which I think you’re going to need at Del Mar.”
Maxfield will race with blinkers on for the first time in the Woodward. Walsh said adding blinkers, which he is hoping helps Maxfield focus, was something he had thought about for a while, but really couldn’t do it off a win. Maxfield has won seven of nine career starts.
“I can’t see it having any kind of a negative effect,” Walsh said. “If anything, it’ll have a positive effect or won’t have any effect at all. He’s a very kind horse. He’s never going to be too keen or do too much. Saturday, we’ll let him get into a nice rhythm, find his feet, and go from there.”
Maxfield, who breaks from post 2 under Jose Ortiz, has yet to face any of his five opponents in the Woodward, which include Art Collector, Code of Honor, and Dr Post.
At this time last year, Art Collector was riding a four-race winning streak into the rescheduled Preakness Stakes. He finished fourth in the Preakness and ended his 3-year-old campaign with an eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. After a sixth in the Kelly’s Landing to kick off this year, Art Collector was transferred by owner Bruce Lunsford from Tom Drury to Bill Mott.
In two starts for Mott, Art Collector won the Alydar Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 6 and the Charles Town Classic on Aug. 27.
“He was a good horse before and he showed he had a little gas left,” Mott said. “I’m guessing this is going to be his stiffest test since we’ve had him. With Maxfield, that’ll be a bit more of a slugfest than his previous two.”
Mott will also send out Forza Di Oro, who cuts back in distance following a third-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles.
“I think a combination of experience and the distance might have got in his way last time,” Mott said. “But he’s more proven at a mile and an eighth.”
Code of Honor is a four-time graded stakes winner at Belmont Park, including a victory, via disqualification, in the 2019 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Code of Honor was off for seven months when he won the Grade 3 Philip Iselin at Monmouth Park on Aug. 21.
“Two turns is probably better but a mile and an eighth is fine,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “The way he’s training right now, he’s sharp. He’ll probably be laying in the right spot and just wait and make a move and see what happens.”
Paco Lopez, aboard for the Iselin victory, is back aboard on Saturday.
Dr Post won the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on July 17 when trainer Todd Pletcher added blinkers to the colt’s equipment. In the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, Dr Post ran a bit spotty, backing up to the point where it looked like he might be eased before rallying to finish third under Joel Rosario.
“If he didn’t have blinkers on that day, he ran a like horse that needed them,” Pletcher said. “Joel felt that maybe the track was breaking away from him a little bit and that’s why he started to lose ground. But he obviously handled the track well the last part. He can be a little bit of a tricky horse. One of the reasons we put blinkers on him was to try and keep him focused, so we’ll continue with the blinkers.”
One of Dr Post’s best efforts came when he finished second behind Tiz the Law in last year’s Belmont Stakes, which was run at 1 1/8 miles.
Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Dr Post.
Mo Gotcha a longshot who finished third in the Grand Prix American Jockey Club two weeks ago, completes the field.
The Woodward goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 1 p.m. and includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne, the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on turf, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational.