Country House and Maximum Security will forever be linked in racing history by their run down the stretch at Churchill Downs on May 4, 2019. Maximum Security crossed the line first in the Kentucky Derby, but was disqualified for interference, marking the first time in the history of the Run for the Roses that the horse who crossed the wire first was disqualified for an in-race infraction. His demotion put Country House in the winner’s circle. Neither was immune from his share of adversity as they took wildly divergent paths over the next 20 months. Country House never raced again and, in fact, had to fight for his life against laminitis. Meanwhile, Maximum Security overcame his own physical woes to earn that season’s championship, but the federal indictment of his trainer caused him to switch barns during a roller-coaster season. But bloodlines and genetics know nothing of these upheavals, and their storylines converge again, as both will be new stallions in Kentucky in 2021. Maximum Security will begin his career at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud after the Coolmore group bought an interest in him from breeders Gary and Mary West before his 2020 campaign. Meanwhile, Country House – who was bred by the late J.V. Shields Jr. and was campaigned by his widow, Maury Shields, her nephew Guinness McFadden Jr., and the LNJ Foxwoods of Larry, Nanci, and Jaime Roth – will stand at Darby Dan Farm. And thus, a racetrack rivalry that never coalesced will play out through the respective mares the young stallions attract, their commercial reception at auction, and, a few years down the line, the performance of their foals on the racetrack. Maximum Security, by New Year’s Day, started his career in maiden-claiming company in December 2018. Less than five months later, he was sent away as one of the favorites in the Kentucky Derby after winning his first four starts, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby, in the care of trainer Jason Servis. Meanwhile, Country House, with just a maiden win that January to his credit, was the second-longest shot on the board as the field of 19 entered the Derby starting gate. The Lookin At Lucky colt, trained by Bill Mott, had finished second in the Grade 2 Risen Star to War of Will, fourth in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, and third in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. Country House and jockey Flavien Prat crossed the line 1 3/4 lengths behind Maximum Security. However, Maximum Security had veered out sharply near the five-sixteenths pole, impacting also-rans War of Will and Long Range Toddy, among others. Prat and Jon Court, aboard Long Range Toddy, both claimed foul, and after a review of more than 20 minutes, the stewards disqualified Maximum Security to 17th. Country House triggered a $132.40 win payout after his elevation. Neither colt contested the other two legs of the Triple Crown, and Country House found himself in a far more challenging battle. The week following the Derby, Mott said that Country House had developed a cough and seemed to be harboring a virus, ruling him out of the Preakness. The colt received an examination at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., and returned to light training at Churchill Downs, but his attitude and condition did not satisfy Mott. The following month, Mott reported that his Derby winner would receive turnout time at Blackwood, the training and rehabilitation facility co-owned by McFadden and Matt Hogan, and that he likely would not start again that year. Additional problems arose later that month. The colt was sent back to Rood and Riddle for an examination, to be followed up by turnout. Dr. Larry Bramlage diagnosed Country House with proximal suspensory ligament desmitis on both front fetlocks. The colt was readmitted to Rood and Riddle on July 1, 2019, to be treated for a right front lower leg infection. Over the course of the next two weeks, the veterinary team was able to control the infection, but as a result of his non-weight bearing right front foot, Country House developed laminitis in his left front foot. He was later released to Blackwood for stall rest, and after the foot was stabilized by Dr. Scott Morrison, Country House was able to begin paddock turnout before later relocating to Darby Dan. His racing connections were left to wonder what might have been. “Country House is an absolutely gorgeous horse that was just coming into his own when he ran in the Kentucky Derby,” Mott said. “We always felt the best was yet to come.” Meanwhile, Maximum Security finished second in the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth before winning the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational. A displaced colon that caused a severe bout of colic sidelined him and ruled him out of the Breeders’ Cup. He was able to return to win the Grade 3 Bold Ruler in October, followed by the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, victories that cemented the Eclipse Award as outstanding 3-year-old male of 2019. He bested champion mare Midnight Bisou in the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29 and appeared poised for a season of superstardom. But on March 9, the racing world was rocked by the federal indictment of 27 individuals, including Servis, on doping-related charges. The indictment stated that Servis administered an “illegal” medication called SGF-1000 to Maximum Security in advance of the Pegasus. According to the indictment, New Jersey regulators pulled an out-of-competition sample from the colt prior to the race, but did not detect the substance, marketed as a substance composed of amino acids “to promote rejuvenation and recovery from training.” The indictment further stated that Servis directed a veterinarian, who is not named, “to falsify records to make it appear as if the racehorse had received ‘Dex,’ rather than SGF-1000.” The shorthand is likely to refer to dexamethasone, a regulated corticosteroid that reduces inflammation. Servis had entered a not-guilty plea, and pre-trial procedures in the case are still ongoing, with another status conference scheduled for May 2021. Maximum Security was transferred to Bob Baffert, who had trained his sire, New Year’s Day, for the Wests. In his first start following the Saudi trip and following the change to the West Coast barn, he earned a hard-fought nose victory in the Grade 2 San Diego in July, followed by a three-length victory in the following month’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic. “He’s very deceiving. He reminds me a lot of Silver Charm,” Baffert said, comparing the colt to his first classic winner and champion. “Silver Charm was very tough. I could work him with a $30,000 maiden claimer or a stakes horse and he would outwork them by a nose. That’s the way he was. He’s not going to give you any extra in the mornings. I can see why they ran him for maiden $16,000. But one thing about him is that he has what Silver Charm had, something you can’t measure, and that’s his heart. He has heart galore.” Maximum Security finished second to stablemate Improbable in the Grade 1 Awesome Again, then was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland to conclude his career before shipping across town to Ashford – about 15 miles from where Country House was already ensconsed at Darby Dan. Country House is by Ashford stallion Lookin At Lucky, an Eclipse champion and Preakness winner by the late classic sire Smart Strike. That line is still proliferating in Kentucky. Country House will compete in the marketplace against the likes of his own sire, who stands for an advertised fee of $20,000; Lookin At Lucky’s Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion Accelerate, at $17,500; and other stallions by Smart Strike and his champion son Curlin, both of whom have sons entering stud in Kentucky this year. Country House’s introductory stud fee has been set at $7,500, a lower price point to the rest of the line, and the young stallion prospect will be available via Darby Dan’s “Share the Upside” program. Breeders can earn a lifetime breeding right after paying an enrollment fee and producing foals by the stallion from his first two seasons, in 2021 and 2022, paying a reduced stud fee of $5,000. Their lifetime right begins in 2023. “We are excited to stand Country House and to provide breeders the opportunity to breed to a Kentucky Derby winner through our ‘Share the Upside’ program,” Darby Dan stallion director Ryan Norton said in a press release. “There is a lot to like about Country House, hailing from the influential Smart Strike sire line.” Maximum Security is by far the best runner by New Year’s Day, but the stallion hasn’t quite been a one-hit wonder, with eight other stakes winners, including Grade 1 winner Fighting Mad in 2020. Maximum Security, whose fee has been set at $20,000, is poised to reap the benefits of his sire’s progeny, as New Year’s Day now stands in Japan. New Year’s Day is by the late Street Cry, whose sons at stud in Kentucky include Street Sense, at $60,000, and Street Boss, at $15,000. Street Sense’s Grade 1 winner McKinzie enters stud this season for $30,000. “Maximum Security was an exceptional racehorse and I have no doubt that he will prove very popular with breeders once they see him,” Ashford director of sales Charlie O’Connor said in a press release. “He’s an extremely impressive-looking individual.” Maximum Security’s dam is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Flat Out, who began his stud career in Kentucky in 2014 before moving to Oklahoma; he is the sire of 13 stakes winners to date. Several other stallions from the historic 2019 Kentucky Derby also will enter stud this coming season. Improbable, who was elevated to fourth via the disqualification, went on to win three Grade 1 races as an older horse to contend for divisional honors. He will be one of the most anticipated newcomers of the season at WinStar Farm. Eclipse Award champion juvenile Game Winner, also owned by the Wests, was elevated to fifth in the Derby on the disqualification of Maximum Security. He will stand at Lane’s End Farm. War of Will, moved up to seventh, rebounded from the ruckus at the Derby to win the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. The multiple Grade 1 winner enters stud at Claiborne Farm. Grade 1 winner Win Win Win, ninth, heads back to his birthplace of Florida to stand at Ocala Stud, while Grade 1 winner Vekoma, 12th, enters stud at Spendthrift in Kentucky.