Maximus Meridius returns for $175K Toboggan

Maximus Meridius will look to double up on local stakes wins when he takes on six rivals in Saturday’s Listed $175,000 Toboggan, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained and co-owned by Butch Reid, Jr. with LC Racing and Cash is King, Maximus Meridius is a 4-year-old Pennsylvania-bred son of Maximus Mischief, who was campaigned by these same connections to a victory in the 2018 Grade 2 Remsen at the Big A.

Maximus Meridius [post 1, Mychel Sanchez, 122 pounds] will rematch the second and third-place finishers, Full Moon Madness and Runninsonofagun, from his last-out score in the six-furlong Listed Gravesend contested over sloppy and sealed footing on December 28.

There, the bay gelding, with Hall of Famer John Velazquez at the helm, stalked the early pace of Toxic Gray through an opening quarter-mile of 22.35 seconds. Maximus Meridius was given his cue in the turn and took command through a half-mile in 45.75 with Full Moon Madness, who was squeezed at the start, advancing with purpose and Runninsonofagun ranging into contention.

Maximus Meridius stayed on strong down the lane to stave off the game Full Moon Madness with Runninsonofagun, lugging a field-high 126 pounds, surging late to complete the trifecta. The winning effort, accomplished in a final time of 1:10.33, registered a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

Reid, Jr. said Maximus Meridius has improved since being gelded ahead of a runner-up effort in the Salvatore M. DeBunda Sprint in August at Parx. The talented bay has since posted four consecutive 90-plus Beyer Speed Figures, including a 92 for an optional-claiming win in October at Parx and a career-best 95 for a runner-up effort to Valentine Candy in the Listed Steel Valley Sprint in November at Mahoning Valley ahead of his Gravesend win.

“We gelded him, and he's really turned around. He's become a more serious horse and pays more attention to what he's doing,” Reid, Jr. said. “He's always been a horse with ability, he just didn't have his head in the game. That [the gelding] seems to be the thing that's turned the corner for him. He's really doing well.”

He has since worked back twice at Parx, including a bullet half-mile in 47.01 on January 18 and an easy half-mile in 49.43 Saturday.

“He's trained well. We missed a couple days of training like everybody else did because of the weather, but fortunately we didn't miss any of our breezes and he's coming up to the race just like we had hoped,” Reid, Jr. said.

Maximum Meridius has banked $395,980 through a 13-4-4-1 record that includes runner-up efforts in Listed events here last year in the seven-furlong Bay Shore and the six-furlong Gold Fever.

Reid, Jr. said he is hopeful that Maximus Meridius will continue his upward trajectory.

“Early on, we thought he was going to be a distance horse for us like his daddy was and he didn't get there,” Reid, Jr. explained. “We've been looking forward to stretching him back out and hopefully this is the first step along that way. I think seven-eighths and a one-turn mile are definitely within his grasp.”

Bred by Westerly Farm, Maximus Meridius is out of the winning Quiet American mare Quiet Virtue.

Owner-trainer Jeff Runco’s West Virginia-homebred Coastal Mission [post 4, Arnaldo Bocachica, 124 points] enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in 2024, making the grade with a rallying one-length score in the local Grade 3 Forty Niner on October 26.

There, the now 6-year-old Great Notion gelding settled in seventh position as returning rival Nelson Avenue set a swift tempo through three-quarters in 1:10.51 over the fast main track. Coastal Mission was in full flight through the turn and rallied four-wide down the lane to secure the win over the stubborn pacesetter, covering the one-turn mile in a final time of 1:36.10. The winning effort registered a 92 Beyer.

Coastal Mission followed with a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by TwinSpires on December 7 and has since worked back three times at his Charles Town base, including a three-eighths work in 36.40 Friday.

The talented grey has banked in excess of $1.1 million through a 26-14-5-1 record that includes a half-length score over dual graded stakes-winner Repo Rocks in the Listed Parx Dirt Mile around two turns on September 21 ahead of his Forty Niner coup.

Coastal Mission, a full-brother to multiple graded stakes-placed Lewisfield, is out of the Crowd Pleaser mare Smart Crowd, who is a half-sister to dual graded stakes-winner Duckhorn.

Jay Em Ess Stable’s Grade 3-placed Kentucky homebred Full Moon Madness [post 2, Kendrick Carmouche, 118 pounds] will look to improve off his close second last out in the Gravesend for trainer Michelle Nevin.

The 5-year-old Into Mischief gelding overcame his troubled break to be within a head of the leading Maximus Meridius at the half-mile and pushed the eventual winner all the way to the wire.

“I thought he ran great,” Nevin said. “He didn’t get the greatest break away from the gate that day. It might’ve cost him a little bit, but I still was very happy with his run.”

Full Moon Madness has worked back twice, including a half-mile breeze in 49.19 January 18 over the Belmont Park dirt training track.

Full Moon Madness was a close second in the Grade 3 Nashua as a juvenile at the Big A and has landed first or second in each of his last four outings, including a 4 1/2-length allowance romp last January and a narrow optional-claiming win on his return to the races nearly 11 months later on November 24 ahead of his Gravesend effort.

He is out of multiple graded-stakes winner By the Moon, who was campaigned by Nevin and Jay Em Ess Stable to Grade 1 wins in the 2017 Ballerina at Saratoga Race Course and 2014 Frizette at Belmont Park. 

Nelson Avenue [post 6, Jose Lezcano, 122 pounds] arrives from a frontrunning 11 1/4-length romp in the seven-furlong Blitzen on New Year’s Eve at Parx that garnered a career-best 101 Beyer for the impressive annexing of a six-horse field over muddy and sealed footing.

“It was a very strong effort. He was going into the Parx race very well,” trainer Wayne Potts said. “I don't run at Parx a whole lot because it usually takes one or two [races] over that track before they run well, but he really took to it well."

The 6-year-old Into Mischief gelding was claimed for $40,000 by Potts for owner Rob Photos [Photos Finish] on August 8 at the Spa and returned August 18 to capture a $50,000 claiming tilt at the same track.

“I ran him back in 10 days when I first got him - I sent him to the track four times to jog, just backed off on him,” Potts said. “I saw him train up there a few times and he was always on the bit and running off a little bit, so I made a couple adjustments in the morning, and it really worked out for us.

"Now he runs in a Triabit and I put a drop noseband on him to keep his mouth shut a little bit,” added Potts. “It gives a little more leverage than when they had the D-Bit on him. A little change in equipment and he's turned out to be really good.”

Nelson Avenue made his next two starts traveling a one-turn mile at Belmont at the Big A, wiring an optional-claimer in September ahead of a pacesetting second to Coastal Mission in the aforementioned Forty Niner. He entered the Blitzen from an uncharacteristic off-the-board effort in the Cigar Mile.

Potts said he believes Nelson Avenue can be versatile in both distance and running style.

"I think he can go anywhere from seven-eighths to a mile and a sixteenth. He's pretty tactical,” Potts said. “He isn’t a horse that has to be on the lead - he can rate, and he takes the kickback fine. But the way he trains and wants to go, he just wants to be on the bit, so it's much better for him being forward.”

Nelson Avenue, bred in Kentucky by Godolphin, is out of the winning Street Cry mare Via Strata, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-winners Lucullan and Innovative idea. His third dam is the multiple graded stakes-winning Storm Cat mare Caress.

A robust field includes dual graded stakes-winner Runninsonofagun [post 5, Ruben Silvera, 124 pounds] for trainer John Toscano, Jr.; dual graded stakes-placed Gun It [post 7, Sahin Civaci, 118 pounds] for trainer and co-owner Ilkay Kantarmaci; and multiple graded stakes-placed Castle Chaos [post 3, Manny Franco, 118 pounds], who returns from a more than five-month layoff for trainer Robert Falcone, Jr.

The Toboggan [Race 6] is one of three stakes on Saturday’s nine-race card at the Big A, which features the Listed $250,000 Withers – a 20-10-6-4-2 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby – in Race 7 and the $125,000 Ruthless in Race 3. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.   

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.
 
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