Maximum Security physical exam reveals no serious issues

A physical examination of the 2019 3-year-old champion Maximum Security ordered by his co-owner Gary West in the wake of an indictment of the horse’s trainer did not find any major soundness problems or irregularities in his cardiovascular system, according to records of the exam provided by West.

In notes accompanying radiographs and other scans of the horse, Dr. Larry Bramlage, the Rood and Riddle equine specialist who conducted the exam, said that his prognosis for the horse was “favorable.”

“I can find nothing seriously wrong with him,” Dr. Bramlage wrote. “If you were not going through with a detailed exam you would not see any issues.”

The soundness exam was only the initial stage of the evaluation that West has ordered for Maximum Security, following allegations in the indictment of trainer Jason Servis that the horse received an “illegal medication” marketed as SGF-1000. West said in a statement accompanying the release that blood, urine, and hair tests of the horse for illegal substances and, specifically, SGF-1000, “will be released when they are available.”

A substance marketed as SGF-1000 has been tested in the past by racing regulators and found to contain sheep collagen. Those tests, which did not find anything illegal in the substance, date back to 2014. Regulators have cautioned that the formulation of the substance could have changed in recent years or have been reformulated for specific horses.

Dr. Bramlage said in his report that examinations of Maximum Security's heart and chest were “all normal.” He also said that tests to determine the horse’s complete blood count and electrolyte profile “are all within normal limits for a racehorse.”

Maximum Security won the Saudi Cup on Feb. 29 in his most recent race. He is expected to get a rest before returning to the races under the care of Bob Baffert. A share of the horse’s racing and breeding rights were sold last year to Coolmore, the international racing and breeding operation.