Maxfield Suffers Condylar Fracture, Out for the Season

LOUISVILLE, KY – The hits keep on coming to the 2020 crop of 3-year-olds.

Trainer Brendan Walsh confirmed to the Daily Racing Form’s Marty McGee on Wednesday morning that his highly-touted Godolphin homebred Maxfield suffered a condylar fracture of his right front cannon bone during a 1/2-mile breeze at Churchill Downs. It was the Street Sense colt’s first work since winning the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) over the same course last month.

According to the DRF article, Walsh was adamant that the injury is non-life-threatening and that Maxfield is expected to make a full recovery. Whether or not he returns to the track for a 4-year-old campaign is yet to be seen.

Maxfield’s racing career had already experienced its share of ups and downs prior to this latest occurrence. He began his career winning two straight last fall, including the Breeders’ Futurity (G1), and was considered a top contender for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

Just a handful of days before the big race, Maxfield was forced to scratch after an ankle injury was discovered. Walsh took his time bringing Maxfield back to the races, waiting over seven months before entering him in the Matt Winn for his first start back.

His winning effort was so strong that he immediately vaulted back onto most pundits’ lists of the top Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders, one of the few top races left in the world that the legendary Godolphin operation has yet to win. Maxfield was expected to make his next start in the Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland on July 11, but he now joins the growing list of respected sophomores who are no longer in contention.

Within the past two weeks, trainer Bob Baffert suffered a double blow when Nadal and Charlatan were both ruled out due to injuries in late May/early June, and trainer Brad Cox revealed earlier today that Wells Bayou is out due to bone bruising. He is the second colt lost to such a malady after Jerry O’Dwyer’s Shotski suffered the same fate earlier this season.