Rising sophomore by Maximus Mischief speeds to victory in Churchill’s Maxfield S.
June 30, 2024
Raging Torrent repelled multiple challenges in the stretch of Sunday’s Maxfield S. at Churchill Downs to give the 3-year-old Maximus Mischief colt his first stakes victory.
Maximus Mischief, a top-five Second-Crop sire in several categories, now has four stakes winners, nine stakes horses and over $2.4 million in progeny earnings to date this year.
Raging Torrent, who was ultra-impressive in his 8 ¼-length allowance win on Derby week at Churchill, turned in another stellar performance on Sunday. He grabbed the lead in the first few strides and quickly opened up a three-length advantage. After a quarter-mile in :22.37, he relaxed on the turn to get the half in :44.65. A trio of foes made their bid for the lead in upper stretch, but Raging Torrent turned them all away, winning by 2 ¼-lengths in 1:22.04 for the seven furlongs over a “good” main track.
“He’s a very fast horse and around the far turn I was able to let him relax a little bit,” said winning rider Antonio Fresu. “At the quarter-pole I was able to ask him again and he really fought hard the entire stretch to not let another horse by.”
Trained by Doug O’Neill for Mark Davis, Raging Torrent was third in last year’s Best Pal S. (G3) and placed in the John Shear S. on the turf in April at Santa Anita. His Allowance victory at Churchill in May earned the rising colt a 104 Beyer, the third fastest recorded by a 3-year-old in 2024 behind only Fierceness and Nysos.
Bred in Kentucky by Rodney Winkler and Alfons Mazzetti, Raging Torrent’s overall record stands at 3-1-2 in nine starts with earnings of $317,400.