Maximum Security, Bodexpress to stay in South Florida until week of Derby

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jason Servis said all was well Sunday morning with his undefeated Florida Derby winner, Maximum Security, who earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his relatively easy, wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 1 fixture here Saturday.

“He’s a tired horse. He’s been lying down all morning, but that’s not surprising because he ran hard yesterday,” said Servis. “But from all appearances, everything checks out well. It is just really starting to sink in that we won the race. We were fortunate to be able to get away with a relatively slow pace, and he was able to make the most of the opportunity given him.”

Servis said “Team West,” meaning owners and breeders Gary and Mary West and their stable managers, would have their regular weekly meeting on Monday “to see what they’re thinking” regarding the Kentucky Derby, but he added, “I’m pretty sure they’re thinking Derby.”

The roster of Kentucky Derby winners to have trained up to the race at Servis’s winter home at Palm Meadows includes Funny Cide, Barbaro, Street Sense, and Big Brown, and as a result, he said he is inclined to keep Maximum Security in south Florida until the week of the race.

“I’d probably let him have his last breeze the Monday of Derby week and fly him out Tuesday, if we can make those travel arrangements,” said Servis.

Servis’s workout style is somewhat unorthodox.

“I’m big on letting them go open miles at around a two-minute clip, maybe a little quicker, from the half-mile to the five-furlong pole here [at Palm Meadows], with the final three-eighths in 39 [seconds] or so,” he said. “It really helps these horses build stamina, and it’s amazing how it works.”

All was also well on Sunday with Florida Derby runner-up Bodexpress, according to Gustavo Delgado Jr., the son of trainer Gustavo Delgado. Bodexpress, who went off at odds of 70-1, registered a career-best 96 Beyer in the Florida Derby and is likely bound for the Kentucky Derby if the 40 qualifying points he earned Saturday are enough to get into the field. Bodexpress would enter the Derby a maiden after five starts.

“The plan yesterday was to qualify for the Derby, and hopefully we were able to accomplish that with his second-place finish,” said the younger Delgado. “We like the way this horse is developing, and even though he is still a maiden, it’s hard to tell an owner to skip the Derby if he can get into the race.”

Bodexpress acted up behind the starting gate and tossed rider Nik Juarez shortly before the Florida Derby.

“He did the same thing at the gate with Paco Lopez before his first start at Gulfstream Park West,” said Delgado. “I think yesterday a lot of things were new for him, including breaking on the grandstand side of the track for the first time, along with the big crowd and all the noise. He wears earplugs, but one of them popped out, and that’s when the trouble began. I can’t say enough about what a great job the gate crew did getting him loaded without any further issues.”

Delgado said Bodexpress likely will remain at Gulfstream Park West before shipping to Louisville, Ky., the week of the race.

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Fountain of Youth winner Code of Honor was also “doing fine” Sunday, according to trainer Shug McGaughey, following his third-place finish in the Florida Derby.

“I thought he ran fine. That’s not the type of race he needs, with one horse on the lead and everybody taking back,” said McGaughey. “We were kind of in between horses. He had half a racetrack on him. I thought it was pretty game what he did considering the circumstances.”

McGaughey said no firm plans have been made regarding Code of Honor’s Kentucky Derby status, although he has more than enough points to get into the field.

Trainer Mark Hennig said Bourbon War also was doing well on Sunday following his somewhat disappointing fourth-place finish in the Florida Derby. Bourbon War, the runner-up in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth four weeks earlier, now has 31 qualifying points, which puts his status for the Derby in some jeopardy.

“Obviously, there was no pace, and we were forced to take the overland route, which didn’t help his cause,” said Hennig. “It looked like he was making a big run on the turn but then had to go wide, and that takes a lot of that run away from you. If we had the points to get into the Derby, I’d be real happy with the horse and real happy with the race because obviously the dynamic of the race figures to be a lot different at Churchill Downs.

“But the reality is, with four slots coming from outside the country, he might not be able to get in. We’ll keep him down here at Gulfstream Park for another 10 days to two weeks and should have a much better idea where we stand after next weekend.”