Mineshaft-bound Maxfield has been a study in patience
They say patience is its own reward, but in the case of the unbeaten Maxfield, his team has had little choice but to wait for the prize at the end of the tunnel.
On Saturday at Fair Grounds, the 4-year-old son of Street Sense will make only his fifth lifetime start in the Grade 3 Mineshaft. To date, his racing career has been successful but maddeningly unfulfilled. In other words, it has been a study in patience.
Named for the 2003 Horse of the Year, the Mineshaft seems an apt beginning to life as an older runner for Maxfield. Never pushed for too much too soon by either John Gosden or Neil Howard, Mineshaft put it all together in the summer of his 4-year-old season and became an easy choice as America’s best 18 seasons ago.
A Godolphin homebred, trained by the veteran Brendan Walsh, Maxfield also is in very good hands. His team has demonstrated the type of patience needed for him to reach his potential, and this horse has more potential than most.
Unbeaten in four starts, Maxfield looks the part of a classic horse. A son of the champion Street Sense, out of a Bernardini mare, he is the kind of grand horse that anyone who has ever dreamed of owning a special one would want to own.
Much like Mineshaft of nearly two decades ago, Maxfield is not really the type to blow his opposition out of the water, but to this point, his stretch run has proved irresistible to any horse he has faced. He also has proved irresistible to onlookers wondering how good this horse could become.
From the first time he entered the starting gate to race at Churchill Downs in mid-September 2019 through three subsequent impressive, but spread-out stakes victories, he has flashed that sort of something special that very few horses possess. Maxfield has been a sublime Thoroughbred machine that promises much bigger and better things.
Alas, horse racing can be a fickle game, and so far the sport’s gods have not seen fit to allow Maxfield a shot at the game’s biggest prizes. Perhaps this all will change in 2021, or perhaps it won’t.
Unfortunately, racing is riddled with extremely talented horses who were never afforded the opportunity to meet their full potential. In the case of Maxfield, it’s easy to root for him to finally get a chance on the big stage.
Forced to miss the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile because of one injury, and then the 2020 Kentucky Derby with another, Maxfield’s team has persevered. Even now, they are willing to go slow to give their fast horse every chance down the road.
What will be the ultimate reward for the patience demonstrated by Team Maxfield?
We will find out a little more on Saturday, but the Grade 3 Mineshaft is only the tip of the iceberg for this son of Street Sense. If he can finally stay healthy — and at the same time get better with age — the sky's truly the limit for Maxfield. Only time — and patience — will tell.