Maximus Effort

Tremendous juvenile racing this long holiday weekend at Aqueduct, Churchill and Hollywood—although I’m not sure we saw the second-coming of Rachel Alexandra. Still, good stuff! Dana over at Green but Game has a great recap of some promising potential stars, but I wanted to give a proper post to one of my favorite efforts, an allowance win by Maximus Ruler in race 8 at Churchill on Saturday.

On November 14, this son of Roman Ruler, out of a Lost Code mare named Lost Love (whose dam Flirting just happens to be by Foolish Pleasure, out of the Advocator mare Horsing Around—not a bloodline you hear much these days) made his debut in race 10 at Churchill Downs (MSW, 7f dirt), set off at odds of just over 52-1, and, as you can see via the race replay below, he was tremendously-impressive closing late to finish third by less than a head (he’s also a BIG boy):



Nominated for the G2 Kentucky Jockey Club, his connections opted for an 8f allowance race for non-winners of two, of which he was the sole maiden. Watch the replay—jockey Francisco Torres makes a sweet move to bring him mid-pack in the backstretch and then he bursts through to take the lead, never really threatened:



Final time for the mile: 1:35.94. The second-place finisher, Guys Reward (by Grand Reward out of a Mr. Greeley mare Beach View) is another to watch as he (surprisingly) looks to want a bit of distance—well, maybe not so surprisingly, as through his dam he is related to Giant’s Causeway.

Freshman sire Roman Ruler has impressed me thus far with his first crop, among the best being G1 Champagne victor Homeboykris (who was crushed by potential superstar Buddy’s Saint in the G2 Remsen on Saturday), and the ill-named filly Connie and Michael who finished third in the G3 Miesque over the Hollywood turf on Sunday. He also has a G1 winner in Mexico, called Zacatlan, so much like their daddy, I suppose Roman Ruler's progeny are precocious.