LOUISVILLE, Ky. _ He's the Kentucky Derby contender Bob Baffert claims to fear most, and you could have bought him for $16,000 the week before Christmas.
Maximum Security has galloped one of the most unlikely paths to this year's Derby starting gate. But many handicappers now regard him as the most exciting bet in the field at 8-1 morning-line odds, especially given his ability to get out quickly on what promises to be a rain-soaked track.
As trainer Jason Servis tells it, he could not have been less excited about Maximum Security's prospects last fall. No one thought much of the colt's stallion or mare. "He was a late foal and was not breezing well at all at Monmouth last year," Servis recalled. "He never got into the bridle."
The stable manager for owners Gary and Mary West asked after the colt, and Servis recalled telling him, "He's just average. He's not showing much."
That's why Maximum Security was available for a $16,000 claim before his 6 {-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream Park in Florida. He won by an absurd 10 lengths that day.
"When I put him in, I thought he'd win," Servis said. "I wasn't expecting a gallop like that."
Maximum Security won his next race by 6 { lengths and his next by an even more absurd 18 \ lengths. That set him up for the Florida Derby, his first true test and his one shot to qualify for the Kentucky Derby.
He moved to the lead easily and was allowed to keep it at a modest pace, so no other contender had a chance to catch him down the stretch. Just like that, the former claimer was a Derby hopeful, with the best speed figures in his class to tantalize data-minded handicappers.
Even Maximum Security's owners, who also have morning-line favorite Game Winner in the race, have said they're not sure what to make of him. But Servis has learned not to underestimate the upstart colt. He credited apprentice jockey Romero Maragh, who rode Maximum Security for his first two starts, with seeing the potential before anyone else.
"Romero was adamant he was a stake horse," Servis recalled. "He's an apprentice, but he's a Maragh. The whole family is in racing. He said, 'This is a stake horse.' I had to take it with a grain of salt because he's an apprentice. He was spot on."
