Maximum Security

Anyone who considered dropping a claim slip—and didn't—on Gary and Mary West's Maximum Security when he made his career debut in a $16,000 claiming race probably will have a sleepless night March 30.

The homebred colt went unclaimed in that Dec. 20 race at Gulfstream Park, staying in the charmed hands of trainer Jason Servis, and his 9 3/4-length maiden win proved just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what was to come.

After two wins in starter races—neither longer than seven furlongs—by a combined margin of 24 3/4 lengths, the son of New Year's Day made the jump from maiden claimer to grade 1 stakes winner look when he grabbed the lead in the $1 million Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream and did not stop running until he was on the road to Louisville.

Maximum Security posted a decisive 3 1/2-length victory Saturday, earning 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and securing a spot in the starting gate for the May 4 Run for the Roses, most likely as a stablemate for the Wests' champion 2-year-old Game Winner, who is trained by Bob Baffert.

"I guess I'll have to postpone my fishing trip (on Kentucky Derby weekend)," deadpanned Servis, who noted that when he called Gary West after the Florida Derby, he could hear Baffert gleefully talking about how happy he was to get a pacesetter for Game Winner at Churchill Downs. 

Maximum Security looked like anything but a rabbit in the Florida Derby, though the result was puzzling beyond the victory by a horse that could have been bought for $16,000 just three months ago. Finishing second was a maiden, Bodexpress, who went off at 71-1 odds.

With 40 points going to the runner-up, Top Racing, Global Thoroughbreds, and GDS Racing Stable's Bodexpress should have enough points to start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) if trainer Gustavo Delgado gives the son of Bodemeister  the green light.

Behind the maiden and the former maiden claimer came the heroes of the Xpressbet Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2), Code of Honor and Bourbon War, who finished a non-threatening third and fourth, respectively, as the speed horses dominated the 1 1/8-mile race.

Oscar Performance
Will Farish's Code of Honor had a Kentucky Derby spot wrapped up with 54 points coming into the Florida Derby and added 20 to his total.

“I thought we were done in the turn, and he kind of kept going. I think he tried to get him going early because he could see what was going on. It just didn't work out. I'm not overly disappointed with the way he ran,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. “We'll see how he comes out of it and go from there.”

Bourbon Lane Stable and Lake Star Stable's Bourbon War, who made a menacing move on the turn but lacked a late kick, picked up 10 points and has 31, putting him 15th in the running for a maximum of 20 spots. Four 100-40-20-10 stakes and one 20-8-4-2 stakes remain on the schedule, and there's a possibility of starters from Europe and Japan entering the mix.

Favored Hidden Scroll disappointed for the second time after breaking his maiden by 14 lengths. Juddmonte Farms' son of Hard Spun  ,who was fourth in the Fountain of Youth after setting the pace in that race, rated in third for much of the way Saturday behind Maximum Security in the early stages and then came up empty, finishing sixth as the 9-5 betting choice.

“We'll start over, which is probably what most sensible trainers would have done in the very beginning, anyway,” trainer Bill Mott said. “We probably bit off more than we could chew.”

There were some who thought Servis had bitten off more than he could chew by entering Maximum Security in a grade 1 stakes, but clearly he knew what he had in the speedy colt—and how fortunate he was that no one dropped a claim slip in December.

Servis admits Maximum Security has unspecified physical issues, and because he was a homebred, there was a willingness to gamble and place him in a claimer to start his career. When that worked out, the trainer who is winning at a 46% clip for the Gulfstream meet decided to take another gamble in the Florida Derby. 

“He wasn’t beating anything, he really wasn’t, but he was 3-for-3 at the track and I had (jockey) Luis Saez. I was like, 'Hello, what’s the downside?'" Servis said.

Maximum Security, cruising along with a short lead over Bodexpress through comfortable fractions of :24.42, :48.98, and 1:12.90. The son of the Anasheed mare Lil Indy spurted clear entering the stretch, grabbed a three-length lead at the eighth pole, and none of the closers were able to put a dent in the lead from there.

Final time for the nine furlongs was 1:48.86, and judging by the manner of victory and the Florida Derby's rich history of producing a record 24 Kentucky Derby winners, the next stop figures to be Louisville in May.

"They’ve got some really good managers, and we’ll see what (the owners) think they want to do. They’ve got that horse Game Winner, so I don’t know what we’ll decide,” Servis said.

Rest assured, whatever that decision may be, it will not involve putting Maximum Security in a claimer ever again.