In what is heartbreaking news for horse racing fans in Dubai and the UAE, Maxfield, Godolphin’s Kentucky Derby probable, has been ruled out for the rest of the year because of an injury.
The son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, who got out of his sophomore year in some style with a dramatic victory in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs last month, suffered a fracture during his workout at the Keeneland Racecourse in the US.
“Following a half-mile workout this morning at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, G1 winner Maxfield was x-rayed and a non-displaced condylar fracture was discovered in his right front cannon bone,” the Dubai-based racing operation said in a statement.
Godolphin’s USA president Jimmy Bell said while it was very disappointing, he added that the three-year-old colt will be back in action next year.
“This is a very disappointing event, obviously, but we are certainly grateful that Maxfield’s injury wasn’t worse and we look forward to seeing him return to the races next year,” said Bell.
Maxfield had had a 60-day off last year when he had a mildly displaced chip removed from an ankle.
Maxfield, who had won the Maiden Special Weight and the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Churchill Downs and Keeneland respectively, last year, was slated to run in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes next month.
Brendan P Walsh’s charge was unbeaten with three astonishing victories in all three starts and the victory had vaulted him as a prospect for the postponed Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.
The victory had put Maxfield on the trail for contesting the 146th renewal of the Kentucky Derby to be staged at Churchill Downs on September 5. Horses qualify through points in the 2020 Road to the Kentucky Derby and Maxfield had 60 points.
The Derby, usually the first leg of the American Triple Crown, has been postponed from its original date in May to September.
The Belmont Stakes will now be the first leg on June 20 followed by the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes on October 3.
