Kentucky Derby 2019 Radar: Aurelius Maximus dazzles
In breaking his maiden Sunday at Belmont Park, 2-year-old Aurelius Maximus proved himself both going a one-turn mile and over a sloppy, sealed track. Consider him solidly on the 2019 Kentucky Derby radar with the performance.
Under jockey Joel Rosario, the son of Pioneerof the Nile broke sharply, stalked early pace setter Empire of War and nudged to the lead entering the turn. He went on to win by 7 3/4 lengths under a hand ride, with Rosario only lightly shaking the reins in the stretch.
Trainer Chad Brown conditions the colt, who ran in Stonestreet Stables silks after his reserve wasn't met for $625,000 as a Keeneland yearling. Interestingly, he was also withdrawn from a trio of other sales -- two of them in March, and another as a weanling -- before making it to the races. Aurelius Maximus is also co-owned by George Bolton and Peter Leidel.
He’s out of an A.P. Indy mare, La Reina, who won a graded stakes going a mile on the dirt before switching to dirt later in her career.
Sunday’s victory followed a third-place effort on debut July 28 at Saratoga. The chart indicates a rough trip that started with a brush of the gate and included plenty of dirt in his face.
That wasn’t a problem this time as Aurelius Maximus sat outside of Empire of War through opening fractions of 23.76 and 48.06. The winner went 3/4 of a mile in 1:12.10 and finished up in 1:37.23, going a bit slower to finish up than he opened, though few 2-year-olds have already run a middle distance on dirt this year.
On the same card, Brown completed a sweep of the maiden special weight events at Belmont when Looking At Bikinis, a son of Lookin At Lucky owned in part by Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, scored a front-running debut win going 6 1/2 furlongs in the slop. The final time was 1:17.39. Looking At Bikinis was purchased for $240,000 as a 2-year-old after sold for $45,000 as a yearling.
What could be next for either? The Grade 1 Champagne Stakes offering Derby qualifying points runs Oct. 6 at Belmont, also at a mile.
Checking the Derby Radar boxes for Aurelius Maximus:
Broke maiden on major circuit