Maximum Security eclipses Cigar Mile foes in bid for championship

Dec 07, 2019 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

After months of flux in the three-year-old ranks, Maximum Security brought order and clarity in a Cigar Mile H. (G1) romp at Aqueduct on Saturday to sum up his case for the Eclipse Award as divisional champion. The disqualified first-past-the-post in the Kentucky Derby (G1) now boasts two graded victories over older horses to go along with his Florida Derby (G1) and Haskell Invitational (G1) trophies.

Gary and Mary West’s homebred was sent off as the 6-5 favorite in the Cigar Mile following his brilliant score in the October 26 Bold Ruler H. (G3). Toting the top weight of 122 pounds including regular rider Luis Saez, Maximum Security flashed his typical speed right from the gate. His best-fancied opponent, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Spun to Run, attended him but could not keep up the pressure as they rounded the turn.

Once Maximum Security spurted clear of Spun to Run into the stretch, no other challengers were able to land a blow from off the pace. The Jason Servis trainee drew away by 3 1/2 lengths, under wraps late, and completed the mile in 1:36.46.

'It's a big deal to win the Cigar Mile here,' Saez said. 'He's a fighting horse. I knew the other horse (Spun to Run) has a lot of speed. I knew we had to fight, so my attitude was let's see what happens. That's what we brought him here to do and we just battled. He felt amazing. When we hit the turn, I knew we had a lot of horse. He gave me everything and it showed. He was amazing.'

'We were concerned,” Servis said of how the race unfolded. “I didn't get up out of the chair until late stretch. This track was very slow today, and it was hard to go fast and sustain that.

'I've got to hold back tears. He's special, that horse. It's just a shame because he was the best horse in the Derby.'

Fellow sophomore Spun to Run, who had upset highly regarded Omaha Beach in the Breeders’ Cup last out, was best of the rest. His trainer, Juan Guerrero, paid tribute to the winner.

'Maximum Security is a great horse,” Guerrero said. “My horse ran his race, we just couldn't beat him. I'm very proud of my horse. It seemed like we were never going to catch him once Maximum Security got the lead. We had to settle for laying right off of him.'

Five-year-old True Timber, a close runner-up in the 2018 running of this race, settled for a distant third. Looking at Bikinis finished fourth in the 11-horse field.

Maximum Security has crossed the wire first in eight of nine starts, and the only other time, he placed second after a troubled start in the June 16 Pegasus at Monmouth. The Kentucky-bred famously started out in a $16,000 maiden claimer at Gulfstream Park last winter but climbed the class ladder fast, and booked his ticket to Churchill Downs with a wire-to-wire coup in the Florida Derby. An incident on the far turn of the Kentucky Derby led to his historic demotion.

After re-asserting himself in the July 20 Haskell, Maximum Security was set for the Pennsylvania Derby (G1), only to miss it when coming down with colic. He returned from a three-month layoff, and shortened up to seven furlongs, in the Bold Ruler and outsprinted his elders. With the Cigar Mile boosting his resume, his official scorecard stands at 9-7-1-0, $1,801,900.

Servis observed that Maximum Security might still be unbeaten with better luck.

'He stumbled real bad in the Pegasus and I still think he wins that day,” his trainer said. “He gets away, opens up three and they have to work to get to him. He very well could have gone undefeated. He's truly special. If you watch the Bold Ruler, he switches leads and you almost can't see it.

'I'm the wrong guy to ask,” Servis added regarding the Eclipse Award, “but I think it would be hard to not give it to him. Even if Omaha Beach wins the Malibu ([G1] at Santa Anita on December 26), I don't think his form looks anything like ours.'

A showdown between Maximum Security and Omaha Beach looms in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream – but not until January 25. That’s too late for a head-to-head match-up to decide the championship, so voters must decide based on their body of work in 2019.

Co-owner/breeder Gary West emphasized that Maximum Security has the superior resume.

'My personal opinion is he ought to be the three-year-old Eclipse Award winner. I don't think anyone has the credentials that he has demonstrated throughout the entire year. He's had setbacks with colic and fought through some things, but that was a pretty impressive race we saw there.'

We’ll find out if the electorate agrees when Eclipse Awards are revealed at the January 23 gala.