Maxfield Settling in Upon Return to Jonabell Farm

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00:00Godolphin homebred Maxfield ended his career on a high note with a win in the Grade 1 Clark

00:07Stakes before he retired to the Darley Stead Barn.

00:11We stopped in at Johnabell Farm and spoke with Darren Fox as well as Maxfield's trainer

00:16Brendan Walsh.

00:18To have Maxfield, a homebred who was born and raised here, to go on and do what he did

00:25on the track and complete the circle and come right back to his birthplace is unbelievably

00:32special.

00:33We couldn't be happier to have a horse of his calibre, pedigree, physique and race record

00:38to fly the flag forward for us here at Johnabell.

00:41It meant a lot to us, you know, we're very, you know, he's such a good horse, he's just

00:48so talented from day one, you know, we're all very fond of him, thus we're missing him.

00:55You know, he's such a great character as well, and it meant a lot to us, you know,

01:00he was our first, or my first Grade 1, you know, and he was just a pleasure to have through

01:06his whole career.

01:07Just a great story the whole way through.

01:10He is absolutely stunningly gorgeous, he is jaw-dropping, he is, he looks like a Street

01:17Sense, you know, on first impression, that same size, the physique, but he's a smoother,

01:22better looking version of Street Sense.

01:25We see shades of Bernardini through his head, his movement, his reach, how he uses himself,

01:30it's that jaw-dropping commercial walk that every weanling and yearling purchaser looks

01:35for and he's got it in spades.

01:38The two-year-old form is almost a cherry on top that you wouldn't normally expect for

01:42a horse of his profile.

01:44Breeders Futurity at Keeneland was just jaw-dropping, you know, to be, you know, kind of a tick slow

01:51out of the gate, to be trailing the field heading into that first turn, yet to circle

01:56the field the way he did and leave him for dust to win by five and a half was, you know,

02:01incredible and a lot of shrewd people called that the most impressive performance by a

02:05two-year-old that year.

02:07Maxfield, a breathtaking run at the top of the stretch, kicks clear by six, Maxfield

02:13to win the Claiborne Breeders Futurity.

02:15He was actually very consistent through his whole career to win a Grade 1, a 2, won the

02:20Mad Win at 3 and then went on and became a fantastic four-year-old.

02:26And Maxfield is the first horse in history to win the Ali Sheba, the Stephen Foster and

02:33the Clark.

02:34They were just such impressive performances, a horse who is in his absolute element.

02:39He ran four triple-digit buyers in his career up to a high of 105, which he did so on three

02:45separate occasions, earned over $2 million, never off the board and also ran a nine-graded

02:52stake.

02:53So, he kept top company, you know, at every start and he's just a really, really special

02:59horse.

03:00We kind of miss him because he was always a great character, he just so calm with everything

03:06and he just filled you with confidence because he just had such a good temperament and there

03:12was never a worry about whether he was going to put his best foot forward and I think he

03:18showed that in the racetrack, he always did.

03:20He's as cool as could be, never turned a hair, just the confidence he exuded and it was just

03:28awe-inspiring to watch.

03:29His composure, his demeanor, his presence, it's just, again, it's just that X-factor

03:35that you look for.

03:36You add in his pedigree, his dam is a Bernardini three-part sister to Sky Mesa, you know, second

03:42dam caressed, third dam laff firmed, it's one of the best female families in the stud

03:47book and the one thing we have confidence in is that whatever ability this horse passes

03:51on to his progeny, if they inherit his class and composure, they will certainly be able

03:56to demonstrate the full extent of that ability in the afternoons.

04:00He'll make a great stallion, hopefully we can look forward to training some of his babies

04:05in the years to come.

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