Maxfield dominated the G2 Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on Saturday, winning with ease.

The Street Sense homebred entered the nine-furlong closing day feature after winning all three of his earlier races at the Kentucky track for Brendan Walsh, along with a convincing victory in the G2 Alysheba Stakes at the end of April.

After racing behind the leaders out of the stalls, Maxfield settled in sixth place of the nine-horse field during the first furlong and a half, away from the inside rail.

He grabbed closer order as he exited the back directly and unleashed a strong turn of foot as he turned for home, knocking off his competitors in a matter of steps to take the lead at the top of the straight.

Maxfield gained command approaching the final furlong and was permitted to cruise home by Jose Ortiz, crossing the line three and a quarter lengths ahead of Warrior's Charge.

Brendan Walsh commented, "This was a good effort by Maxfield, who appears to be developing all the time." Hopefully, we'll be capable of keeping him active and healthy. We wanted to get him a nice run of races under his belt so that he should be in fantastic form for the second half of the year. It's begun, but we won't go much further ahead of ourselves. There's always a sense of tension about Maxfield. He was extremely impressed, but we anticipated him to get the task done, which he executed brilliantly.

“We don't have anything written in stone, so we will attempt to locate another location in four, five, or six weeks. Maxfield had taught us not to go too far ahead of ourselves, but he's been extremely healthy, so far, and maybe we should have a clear run from here. It's thrilling.”

“Maxfield is a large horse, so I let him pick up his stride when we reached the half-mile pole, and he completed it nicely,” Jose Ortiz continued. I'd rather let him gain ground, putting him in the clear, and letting him use his stride than go down the inside and attempt to be a hero. He was the finest horse, therefore I rode him like that.

“He is improving, and he enjoys his time here at Churchill Downs. I forced him to run in the Alysheba, but I took great care of him today within the eight-pole. I knew I had it, so I simply let him run to the finish line.”

Antoinette finishes second: Antoinette contributed further Graded-race Black Type to her resume by finishing second in the G2 Fleur de Lis Stakes over nine furlongs on dirt. This year's G3 The Very One Stakes winner, who placed at G1 level on both dirt and turf last season, surged clear of her five competitors in the first quarter-mile and raced in a clean second, a distance behind Letruska.

The Godolphin homebred attempted to press Letruska from the back straight, however, the triple G1 winner built her lead as she approached home and never seemed threatened, winning by just under six lengths.