Irish Maxima leads every step of the way in G2 Ruffian
Irish Three Racing’s Irish Maxima set sharp splits and dug in gamely to fend off late-running Cassiar for the victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian, a one-turn mile for older fillies and mares, at Belmont at the Big A.
Trained by John Servis, the 5-year-old Maximus Mischief bay notched her second career graded victory after taking the seven-furlong Grade 3 Distaff last year at the Big A, and her first trip to the winner’s circle for an effort beyond sprint distances. The win was her third consecutive, adding to impressive seven-furlong optional-claiming scores both here and at Parx Racing in March and April, respectively.
Robert O’Neill of Irish Three Racing said Irish Maxima is in top form.
“She's really filled out,” O’Neill said. “She's a little bit bigger and she's a smart filly, she really is."
Guided to victory by regular pilot Frankie Pennington, Irish Maxima broke sharply from post 6-of-7 and took command with Inefficiency right on her flank before kicking clear exiting the chute and marking the opening quarter-mile in 22.74 seconds over the good and harrowed footing.
"She's got so much speed, as soon as she broke from the gate, I tried to grab her pretty quick to get her to relax,” Pennington said. “As soon as I grabbed her, she was like, 'I'm going to play with you, I'm going to do what I want to do.' And she did.”
The 47-1 longshot Ultimate Authority moved up to second position to the inside of Inefficiency with a trio rivals bunched up ahead of Cassiar at the back down the backstretch, while Irish Maxima skipped along under a snug hold and reached the half-mile in 45.02.
"She was going pretty quick early on. I didn't really want to go that quick, but I didn't have much say,” Pennington added, with a laugh.
Irish Maxima was still in-hand exiting the turn with a 5 1/2-length advantage as Ultimate Authority faded and Eunomia made her move from the rear of the field to give chase in second.
Pennington shook the reins passing the quarter-pole as three-quarters elapsed in 1:09.22 with Eunomia spinning her wheels. Irish Maxima was shown a right-handed crop passing the eighth pole, and though she began to tire in the final eighth, she dug in determinedly to fend off the rush of the late-footed Cassiar to win by one length in a final time of 1:36.51.
Pennington said he was confident Irish Maxima would battle back in the lane.
"I knew they were going to be coming, it was a big group of nice horses, but I know one thing with her, she'll fight it out until the end,” he said.
The Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey-trained Cassiar landed 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Inefficiency with Dry Powder, who ran on eight days’ rest, completing the superfecta. Dazzling Move, Eunomia, and Ultimate Authority rounded out of the order of finish.
“The only horse that was getting to her at all was Shug's and that's the filly that was last early,” Servis said. “She's gotten bigger and stronger and it shows in her performances.”
Servis added Irish Maxima is likely to receive a freshening next instead of targeting the Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o' Roses presented by Boldyn Networks on June 5 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
"She's run so hard and been so good to us,” Servis said. “She's run three races pretty close [together] for her. We'll see how she comes out of this and go from there, but I would say it's doubtful the Bed o' Roses would be on her plate."
Dylan Davis, aboard runner-up Cassiar, said his charge was valiant in defeat after exiting the inside post.
“I tried to get the best position I could. She ran OK out of the gate, a little timid inside, but the fractions were there,” Davis said. “They were hot. She is a big-striding filly. She got going late. Frankie just built up too much of a lead. That's really all it was. The wire saved him, but my filly ran great. A little extra distance wouldn't hurt her. It was a good solid effort."
A $50,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, Irish Maxima was bred in Kentucky by Pillar Property Services and is out of the Grade 2-placed Out of Place mare Palace Pier. She banked $110,000 in victory while improving her record to 18-11-1-1, one that includes three additional stakes wins. She returned $14.44 on a $2 win ticket.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Belmont at the Big A with a nine-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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