HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Maxfield, one of the leading 2-year-olds of 2019, returned recently to the Brendan Walsh barn at the Palm Meadows training center after undergoing rehabilitation at Bridlewood Farm in Ocala, Fla. Maxfield had a small ankle chip removed shortly after being scratched from the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

“He’s back galloping at Palm Meadows and we’ll monitor him this week as to when he can start back working,” Walsh said Wednesday from New Orleans. “But he’s done great physically and is moving great, too.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Kenny McPeek sent out Harvey Wallbanger to a 29-1 upset of the Holy Bull Stakes last year, so there’s fresh precedent for something similar to happen Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

McPeek will be back in the Holy Bull with another longshot, Mayberry Deputy, although he doesn’t expect the Majesticperfection colt to be quite as big a price on the tote.

“Probably not,” McPeek said. “His maiden win last month was impressive in the sense he got bounced around quite a bit, yet he still came through and got the job done.”

Listed, $150,000 Smarty Jones, one mile, Oaklawn Park, Jan. 24, 2020
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Gold Street, by Street Boss
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Jockey: Martin Garcia
Owner: Mike McCarty
Beyer Speed Figure: 95

Some racing fans and bettors bemoan the modern practice of limiting Thoroughbreds’ starts, training and training with one race in mind and restricting a horse to a minimal number of races per year.

These folks have no beef with Mark Casse.

Casse believes in running his horses, not sitting on them, and the six starts Enforceable made as a 2-year-old laid the foundation for his 3-year-old debut Saturday at Fair Grounds, where he won the Lecomte Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths to push onto the Triple Crown trail.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Montauk Traffic, a 4 1/2-length maiden winner here Dec. 28, worked five furlongs in 1:01.66 on Wednesday morning and could be a candidate for either the Grade 2, $250,000 Withers Stakes on Feb. 1 or the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes on Feb. 8.

Montauk Traffic worked in company with Devil’s Code, galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.51 while leaving his company.

Although nobody wins a Derby the first week of January, interest was keen for a pair of 3-year-old stakes last Saturday at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, races run under dissimilar conditions.

Aside from both races restricted by age, both at one mile and won by the favorite, comparing the Grade 3 Sham at Santa Anita and $100,000 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park was apples and oranges.

Listed, $150,000 Jerome Stakes, one mile, Aqueduct, Jan. 1, 2020

(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 3 each for the dead-heat for second, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Independence Hall, by Constitution

Trainer: Michael Trombetta

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Owners: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Kathleen and Robert Verratti, and Twin Creeks Racing

Beyer Speed Figure: 83

OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- There was more a sense of relief than revelry from the connections of Independence Hall after their excitable colt made a successful, albeit nerve-wracking, 3-year-old debut in Wednesday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.

Despite acting up in the paddock to the point where he was saddled on the walking ring and then breaking last, Independence Hall proved too classy for his five rivals, recording a four-length victory in the Jerome to remain undefeated in three starts while earning 10 qualifying points to the May 2 Kentucky Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – An unspecified setback has knocked the exciting 3-year-old Honor A. P. out of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.

John Shirreffs trains Honor A. P., expected to start as the favorite in the one-mile Sham based on his dazzling maiden victory during the autumn meet. However, after training on Tuesday at Santa Anita, Honor A. P. showed signs of something being amiss.

“He came off the track and after he cooled out, he was off,” Shirreffs said early Wednesday morning. “We did X-rays, and the X-rays were okay. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Storm the Court’s comeback planned for February at Santa Anita is likely to be postponed, and the forecast of rain Dec. 23-27 could push the 2020 debut for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner into March.

Trainer Peter Eurton initially planned for Storm the Court to resume workouts in the middle of December, but weather and temporary closure of the Santa Anita track for renovation produced unexpected challenges.