Irish Maxima goes for graded glory in G3 Distaff

Irish Three Racing’s Irish Maxima brings impeccable form to her return to graded company in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Distaff, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Distaff [Race 7] is one of five stakes slated for Saturday’s 13-race card, which is headlined by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, a 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier, in Race 12. The card also features the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter presented by NYRA Bets in Race 10, the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle – a 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifier – in Race 9, and the Listed $150,000 Excelsior in Race 11. First post is 12:10 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by John Servis, the consistent Irish Maxima enters from a dominant victory in the seven-furlong Listed Barbara Fritchie on February 15 at Laurel Park. There, she broke through the gate before the start, but was reloaded without issue and emerged sharpest of all under regular pilot Frankie Pennington. She bounded to the front and never looked back through splits of 23.14 seconds, 46.55 and 1:12 flat over the good and sealed footing, gliding home a two-length winner over Distaff entrant Royal Spa in a final time of 1:25.38. She earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

“It ended up scratching down to a fairly short field, and she kind of controlled the race the whole way,” Servis said. “She broke sharp and was very forward. She ran very good, and she just seems to be getting better.

“She’s broke so sharp the last few times that she’s run and she’s kind of found herself there on the lead. It’s pretty natural. She broke through the gate before the Barbara Fritchie, and thank God she didn’t go anywhere,” Servis added, with a laugh. 

The Fritchie was Irish Maxima’s third stakes win from her last five outings, adding to an eye-catching 13 3/4-length romp in Parx Racing’s seven-furlong Mrs. Claus on December 31 and a determined three-quarter-length score in the six-furlong Weather Vane in September at Laurel, which came with a stalking trip engineered by Pennington. Those wins surrounded a facile optional claiming victory in October at Parx and a runner-up effort to Benedetta in the Cheryl S. White Memorial in November at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

The 4-year-old daughter of Maximus Mischief has posted three works at Parx since the Fritchie, including a sharp half-mile in 47.27 on Wednesday. Servis commented that a nine-month respite from December 2023 through last August proved a key part of the filly’s development.

“She’s been training very good. She had a little bout with skin disease a little while back, but other than that, she hasn’t missed a beat,” Servis said. “She grew up a lot mentally with the time off. She’s always been a big, strong filly, but mentally, she learned to settle a lot more and can actually sit off horses now or go right up for the lead. She’s got good speed and a good mind, so that’s put her in the winner’s circle.”

Irish Maxima makes her second appearance in graded company, her lone attempt an off-the-board finish in the local 2023 Grade 1 Frizette. Servis said adding a Grade 3 win to her resume could mean a ticket to lucrative events later this year.

“It would be huge. If we’re fortunate enough to win this race and she comes out of this really good, then she’s going to get a big test,” Servis said. “We’ll see where it goes from there.”

Irish Maxima, out of the Grade 2-placed Out of Place mare Palace Pier, was a $50,000 purchase by Servis at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training sale.

Pennington will look to engineer a winning trip from the inside post.

Trainer Linda Rice has entered a pair of contenders in the multiple stakes-placed St. Benedicts Prep [post 4, Jose Lezcano] and the three-time winner All Class [post 7, Eric Cancel].

Ronald Stewart’s St. Benedicts Prep makes her fifth consecutive stakes effort after four on-the-board efforts in sprints at Laurel Park and the Big A over the span of six weeks. The 5-year-old Flatter bay was most recently a nose second to Sunday Girl in the local six-furlong Correction on March 2, where she narrowly missed with a stalking trip.

The Correction effort came off just two weeks’ rest from a third-place finish in the Fritchie, where she finished 2 1/4 lengths behind Irish Maxima and a neck behind Royal Spa. Her other stakes efforts were a pair of runner-up efforts in Laurel’s six-furlong What A Summer on January 18 and the Big A’s seven-furlong Interborough one week later, the former effort a narrow nose defeat to Ms. Bucchero.

Rice said St. Benedicts Prep’s recent stakes efforts have her well-prepared for her first graded stakes attempt.

“We had been pretty aggressive with her, for about six weeks, running her in stakes that I found to be attractive and good spots to try and get some black type next to her name,” Rice said. “We were successful in that. Now she has had a little breather in between races and we are going for a Grade 3. Grade 3 races are important for fillies and their futures in the breeding shed, so that is what we are going to try.”

Rice said the Distaff’s distance suits St. Benedicts Prep’s desire to be forwardly placed.

“Going seven-eighths might actually be her best distance. She likes to be in the heat of it,” Rice said. “Going shorter, she ends up sitting off of it, she is not quite able to keep up going three quarters, but she can do either though.”

All Class was claimed by Rice for $62,500 out of a win in October at Keeneland and is in search of her first win in her fourth start since. The 5-year-old Kantharos mare has been on-the-board in her three local efforts for Rice, including a 1 1/2-length second to multiple stakes-winner Sunday Girl in December and a last-out second in a March 22 optional claiming tilt sprinting six furlongs.

Rice said she is uncertain if All Class will end up in the starting gate on Saturday.

“She has faced good horses. Frankly, if they end up getting a light group, maybe I’ll run her,” Rice said. “Otherwise, I might opt out for an allowance race.”

SF Racing’s Sea Dancer [post 2, Manny Franco] cuts back to sprinting in hopes of her third consecutive stakes win on the heels of two route victories at Laurel Park.

Trained by Brittany Russell, the Mastery 4-year-old transferred from the barn of Tim Yakteen last fall and has been perfect for her new conditioner, beginning with a deep-closing two-length annexing of the nine-furlong Carousel in December. She followed with another strong effort in the 1 1/16-mile Nellie Morse over the same surface in February, defeating her three rivals by 3 3/4 lengths and earning a career-high 90 Beyer.

The $150,000 Keeneland November Sale purchase is out of the stakes-placed Congrats mare Cuyathy and is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Johannes.

Breffini Farm’s Kentucky homebred Royal Spa [post 6, Alex Achard] looks for an elusive stakes victory for trainer Rodolphe Brisset after five stakes placings.

The Violence 5-year-old arrives from her runner-up effort to Irish Maxima in the Fritchie, where she earned a career-best 90 Beyer for the stalking effort under Sheldon Russell. She has hit the board in four of her last five outings, including a runner-up effort to Two Sharp in the Grade 3 Chilukki going a one-turn mile in November at Churchill Downs.

Brisset said he is eager to see the consistent mare finally add a stakes win to her 16-4-3-2 ledger that has earned over $500,000.

“She’s doing very well and ran the race of her life last out when she got beat by a very nice filly,” Brisset said. “She has the talent to win one of these stakes, but she’s one that’s pace dependent and she’s not a great gate horse. She really deserves to win one of these stakes at one point, she just has had some trip issues.”

Brisset noted he is considering an allowance at Keeneland as well for Royal Spa, and that the Distaff is likely his second preference.

“We do have a spot at Keeneland and are leaning towards there. This is ‘Plan B,’” Brisset said. 

Completing the field are Nine Thirty Racing’s multiple stakes-placed Socially Selective [post 5, Joel Rosario] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and Robert Evans’ five-time winning Kentucky homebred Ocean Gateway [post 3, Dylan Davis] for conditioner Christophe Clement. 

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