Tag: Maximum Security

Flavien Prat's closing-day victory aboard juvenile Dr. Schivel in the Del Mar Futurity gave the rider the Del Mar jockey title. The San Diego-area track boosted its handle 8% despite no fans and fewer race dates. (Image: Benoit Photography)

Del Mar Defies the Odds with Increased Handle, Decreased Racing Days

Del Mar’s 2020 summer meet ran with 25% fewer racing days than there were in 2019, and without spectators. Even so, the seaside San Diego-area track increased its betting handle 8% from last year. Race-starved Californians combined with action-hungry bettors outside the state to boost the track’s handle to $466.68 […]

A US appellate court upheld Maximum Security and rider Luis Saez's disqualification from last year's Kentucky Derby. (Image: Tom Pennington/Getty)

Appellate Court Upholds Maximum Security’s Derby Disqualification

On the cusp of the 2020 Kentucky Derby, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld a lower court decision validating Maximum Security’s disqualification in the 2019 Derby. In a unanimous 14-page decision handed down Friday, the three-judge appeals court upheld a November 2019 decision by a lower […]

The start to the Breeders' Cup Classic is like watching an all-star race. This year's Preakness Stakes sends its winner to the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. (Image: Breeders' Cup World Championships)

For the First Time, Preakness Joins Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series

For the first time in the Breeders’ Cup’s nearly 40-year history, a Triple Crown race will be part of its “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series of races. The 145th Preakness Stakes became one of 44 Challenge Series races offering spots in the Breeders’ Cup field over the next two […]

Aqueduct's fall 2020 season offers only one Grade 1 race -- the Cigar Mile. but it provides candid views of some of the most promising 2-year-olds in the country. (Image: ZUMA Photography)

Aqueduct’s Fall Slate Light on Grade 1s, Heavy on Juvenile Prospects

The New York Racing Association published its Aqueduct fall meet on Thursday, announcing an 18-day meet featuring 29 stakes races worth $3.41 million in purse money. Even with a reduced schedule, a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aqueduct’s stakes calendar offers bettors 11 graded stakes among those 29 stakes. Headlining […]

Maximum Security (7) 
edged Midnight Bisou to win February's inaugural Saudi Cup. Only Midnight Bisou, however, received her purse winnings this week as Saudi officials investigate Maximum Security's former trainer. (Image: Edward Whitaker)

Saudi Cup Purse Money Released to All but Maximum Security

Nearly four months from its initial announcement to withhold Saudi Cup purse money, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced it will award prize money to the horses finishing second through 10th. That conspicuously excludes race winner Maximum Security. The JCSA said it will withhold prize money from Maximum Security […]

Uncle Chuck won't find his next race as easy as he and Luis Saez found the July 4 Los Alamitos Derby. The undefeated 3-year-old ships to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Uncle Chuck Heads to Saratoga for Travers Tangle With Tiz the Law

You won’t have to wait until the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby to see Uncle Chuck take on Tiz the Law. Not after trainer Bob Baffert confirmed he will send Uncle Chuck to New York for the Aug. 8 Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. With Belmont Stakes champion Tiz the […]

Maximum Security (left) held off Midcourt by a nose to win the San Diego Handicap. The 4-year-old colt is a 5/1 favorite to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Maximum Security Passes His First Test Back By a Nose

All the pieces were in place to beat Maximum Security. He had a new jockey, a new trainer, a new track he hadn’t seen before — one that some of the best horses of their generations couldn’t figure out. And yet, while Saturday’s San Diego Handicap was the best opportunity […]

McKinzie, seen here winning the seven-furlong Malibu Stakes, will run the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar. It is the shortest race of his career. (Image: Benoit Photo)

McKinzie Goes on the Road to the Crosby, Improbable off to Whitney

Go long and far, or go short and stay home. When it came to deciding where prize colt McKinzie would run next, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert opted for the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar over the 1 1/8-mile Whitney Stakes at Saratoga. Instead, Baffert sends Improbable […]

Starship Jubilee proved to bettors again why she is one of the best older turf mares in North America. She won Saturday's Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga, beating 2/5 favorite Sistercharlie. (Image: NYRA)
Javier Castellano

Starship Jubilee Flies Off With Adventurous Upset at Ballston Spa Stakes

While the horse racing world was focused on Maximum Security’s return on Saturday (spoiler alert: he won), the other end of the country produced one of the more surprising upsets in the graded stakes world. That, courtesy of Starship Jubilee, who took down 2/5 favorite Sistercharlie in the Grade 2 […]

Maximum Security survived an inquiry to win last year's Haskell Invitational. He returns to the gate for the first time in five months at Saturday's Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. (Image: Equi-Photo)

Maximum Security’s Return Casts Big Shadow Over San Diego Handicap

As hard as it is to fathom, given his dominance over major races, there are races Bob Baffert can’t solve. So in true Baffert form, for one of those races — the San Diego Handicap — Baffert is calling in maximum reinforcements. He’s bringing in Maximum Security, who makes his […]

After taking last weekend off due to a coronavirus outbreak among its jockeys, Del Mar's starting gate opens again beginning Friday. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Making Up for Lost Time, Del Mar Adds Extra Day of Racing This Weekend

After taking last weekend off due to the coronavirus, Del Mar resumes racing this weekend with an extra day tacked on. The California Horse Racing Board approved the track’s request for Monday racing, giving the San Diego area track four days of racing this weekend. Normally in this summer of […]

Del Mar was forced to close this weekend after 15 jockeys tested positive for COVID-19. The track is revamping its jockeys' room and instituting a travel ban on riders. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Del Mar ‘Takes Weekend Off’ After 15 Riders Test Positive for COVID-19

Del Mar abruptly canceled its weekend racing card for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after mass testing revealed 15 jockeys are positive for COVID-19. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club CEO Joe Harper said in a statement that in the wake of numerous Southern California-based jockeys testing positive out of the Los Alamitos […]

Maximum Security's hasn't raced since winning the $20 million Saudi Cup in late February. The 4-year-old standout colt returns to action July 18 at Del Marl. (Image: Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia)

Maximum Security Returns to Racing at Del Mar’s San Diego Handicap

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert answered the question racing fans asked throughout the spring when he announced Maximum Security returns to action July 18 at Del Mar. Baffert told the Daily Racing Form 2019’s Champion 3-year-old male will run the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap. The 1 1/16-mile race […]

Luis Saez flashes the number of victories he had in one day earlier this year. It also equals the number of days he's suspended after serving at 15-day suspension for reckless riding during last year's Kentucky Derby. (Image: Lauren King/Gulfstream Park

Luis Saez Ends Appeal, Starts Suspension From 2019 Kentucky Derby

After dropping his appeal, standout jockey Luis Saez began his 15-day suspension for his Kentucky Derby trip aboard Maximum Security that resulted in the horse’s disqualification. Saez, who leads North American jockeys with 132 wins this season, began his suspension Wednesday. It runs through June 3. His agent, former trainer […]

Maximum Security edged Benbatl to win $10 million in the inaugural Saudi Cup in February. Saudi officials froze purse payments pending an investigation surrounding his trainer, Jason Servis. (Image: Reuters)

Officials Freeze Saudi Cup Purse Pending Internal Investigation

In the latest fallout from a long-running horse doping scandal ensnaring some of the sports top trainers and veterinarians, the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia announced it is withholding the purse distribution for the $20 million Saudi Cup pending its own internal investigation. Maximum Security won the Feb. 29, $20 […]

Trainer Jason Servis, seen here after his Maximum Security was disqualified from the 2019 Kentucky Derby, has far more pressing problems these days. He's a centerpiece of a federal investigation into horse doping. (Image: Getty Images)

Servis, Navarro, 17 Others Plead Not Guilty In Horse Doping Scandal

Thoroughbred trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro headline a list of 19 defendants who pleaded not guilty to federal charges involving horse doping during a Thursday arraignment and pre-trial conference conducted telephonically in the US Attorney General’s office for the Southern District of New York. The pair, along with numerous […]

Trainer Jason Servis is accused of administering  PEDs to horses in his caire. That includes Eclipse Award-winning 3-year-old Male Maximum Security. (Image: Getty Images)

Fallout from Horse Doping Scandal Moves Maximum Security to Baffert’s Barn

Federal authorities indicted 27 horsemen on Monday for using performance-enhancing drugs on thoroughbreds. The horse doping charges are shaking up barns throughout racing, with the biggest tremor involving Jason Servis, who just last week won the inaugural $20 million Saudi Cup, the richest purse in racing, with Maximum Security, his […]

Maximum Security doing his morning workout earlier this week at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Process of Elimination Makes Maximum Security a Safe Bet in Saudi Cup

The easiest way to look at Saturday’s Saudi Cup is to go back to your old test days. Remember when your teacher told you to eliminate the wrong answers and, eventually, you’d arrive at the right one? Not only does this work for geometry and history, it also works for […]

Maximum Security, seen here winning the 2019 Florida Derby, has only been beaten across the finish line once.

Maximum Security Seeks Redemption in $20 Million Saudi Cup

Maximum Security had a year most owners and trainers would run with, culminating in his coronation as the year’s 3-year-old Male Eclipse Award Champion. But everyone who saw Maximum Security run knew he didn’t get the maximum out of his considerable talent. That considerable talent, more than anything he did […]