Trainer Brendan Walsh reported Sunday morning that $150,000 Matt Winn (Grade 3) hero Maxfield exited Saturday’s race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., in good shape and his team will begin planning for the next start.
“I have just been thinking all along to go one race at a time with this colt,” Walsh said. “We’ll talk it over with the Godolphin team and plan for our next target whatever that may be.”
Maxfield moved to a perfect 3-for-3 in his young career with Saturday’s one-length victory in the Matt Winn. Under jockey Jose Ortiz, Maxfield closed strongly down the center of the track to overtake Ny Traffic in the closing stages of the 1 1/16-mile race. With his win on Saturday, Maxfield garnered 50 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby to move to No. 9 on the leaderboard with a total of 60 points.
“The most impressive thing about this horse is how he handles everything so well mentally,” Walsh said. “He’s such a cool horse and nothing really bothers him. Along with his athletic ability, his mental state is a really strong one-two punch.”
The updated Road to the Kentucky Derby standings can be found on www.kentuckyderby.com/leaderboard. The next race on the schedule is the June 6, $400,000 Santa Anita Derby (GI) which awards points to the Top 4 finishers on a 100-40-20-10 scale. The newly released Belmont Park stakes schedule has the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (GI) slated as June 20. The adjusted 1 1/8-mile event will award the Top 4 finishers 150-60-30-15 points.
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